Does memory of childhood determine parenting? Correlation in family practice.

The authors studied 46 eldest or only children under school age and their parents to determine the relationship between parents' recollections of their own childhoods and the way they use their family physician for care of their children. The parents completed a questionnaire that measured the caring and overprotection dimensions of the parenting they themselves remember. Positive correlations were found between perceptions of maternal overprotection and the frequency of children's visits. Negative correlations were found between perceptions of parental affection and children's visits and non-routine diagnoses. Neuroticism was found to be a confounding variable that slightly weakened the relationship between maternal caring and children's visits.