Effects of early parent–child relationships on adult psychological traits, genetic temperament, and health status: An analysis using the structured association technique （SAT）

Abstract

Psychological traits and genetic temperaments that contribute to long-term illness, such as depression, cancer, and lifestyle disease, may be shaped by early parent-child relationships, but their combined effects remain unclear. This study used the structured association technique(SAT)to examine disease-specific psychological andtemperamental profiles, and to explore how perceived maternal affection and paternal childcare involvement relate to these characteristics.We administered the SAT questionnaire to 114 adults aged 35-70 years and classified them into four groups: depression(n = 18) , cancer(n = 27) , lifestyle-related disease(n = 21) , and healthy controls(n = 48) .Thirteen psychological traits and six genetic temperaments were assessed, and participants reported whether they had felt dependent on maternal affection and whether their fathers had been involved in childcare.The depression group showed the most unfavorable profile, characterized by low self-worth and elevated interpersonal dependency, anxiety tendency, depression, self-denial, post-traumatic stress symptoms(PTSS) , and SAT therapy requirement, together with high anxiety temperament.The cancer group exhibited elevated anxiety tendency and self-denial.Participants who felt dependent on maternal affection and lacked paternal involvement showed higher proportions of chronic diseases and more vulnerable psychological patterns.Conversely, paternal childcare involvement was associated with more favorable scores for self-worth, interpersonal dependency, self-denial, PTSS, and anxiety-related indices in several disease groups, particularly depression, whereas healthy participants showed generally adaptive profiles regardless of parental pattern.These findings suggest that patients with long-term illness exhibit diverse psychological vulnerabilities, and that maternal and paternal involvement in early childhood exert distinct influences on the expression of psychological traits in adulthood.Integrating SAT-based assessment with a developmental perspective may be useful for the prevention of these diseases and for the development of individualized treatment strategies.