Development and Evaluation of the Adult Daughter–Mother Relationship Questionnaire (ADMRQ)

Abstract

The mother–daughter relationship is embedded in a rich cultural and social context and is critical for maintaining identity and mental health over women’s adult lives. This article describes the development and preliminary psychometric evaluation of the Adult Daughter–Mother Relationship Questionnaire (ADMRQ). Research was conducted in three phases: (1) summary statements about mother–daughter relationships were extracted from 48 mother–daughter in-depth interviews from a variety of ethnic groups. These formed a draft questionnaire; (2) this initial questionnaire was circulated to 10 psychotherapists to assess face and content validity; and (3) the questionnaire was completed by a sample of 147 students and community-dwelling women including a subsample of 34 women who were currently in psychotherapy. Exploratory factor analysis revealed three major factors in the ADMRQ accounting for 49.4% of the variance: both positive and negative affect, ambivalent feelings in the relationship, and interdependency relationships. Cronbach’s αs of additive scales ranged from .625 to .927. Test–retest reliability was established.

Keywords

affective relations interdependency assessment tools relationships between mothers and adult daughters factor analysis

There has been an upsurge in research relating to the mother–daughter relationship including early books written for lay persons (Friday, 1977; Hyman, 1981; Schaffer, 1977), burgeoning into empirical research that began in the 1980s (Baruch & Barnett, 1983; Blaxter & Patterson, 1982; Caplan & Hall-McCorquodale, 1985; Menke, 1983; Notar & McDaniel, 1986). This trend continues to this day (Adams, 1995; Birditt & Fingerman, 2013; Fingerman, 1996; A. Miller, 1995; J. B. Miller & Stiver, 1997; Oberman & Josselson, 1996; Rich, 1995; Shrier, Tompsett, & Shrier, 2004; Suitor & Pillemer, 2006). The mother–daughter relationship has been found to be a key resource critical in maintaining the mental health of women over the life course into old age (Besser & Priel, 2005; Birditt & Fingerman, 2013; Blaxter & Patterson, 1982; Fischer, 1981, 1986; McGraw & Walker, 2004; Miller-Day, 2004). The mother–daughter relationship is often considered to be the template by which to judge other parental relationships (mother–son, father–daughter and son; Suitor & Pillemer, 2006). As stated by Tannen (2006), “the relationship between mothers and daughters is the literal ‘mother of all relationships” (p. 5). However, this sweeping endorsement may not apply to all families today, in which there may be only male offspring or where a father (or fathers) is/are the primary caregiver(s).

The quality of the parent–child attachment is fundamental to the development of the capacity for emotional regulation, a sense of security and stability, the ability to work and to establish intimate, and supportive relationships in adulthood (Fonagy, 2008; Siegel & Hartzell, 2004). Even today, mothers do the bulk of the caregiving in parenting and are the primary caregiver of children over the life course (Besser & Priel, 2005; Birditt & Fingerman, 2013; Miller-Day, 2004). Given the centrality of the mother–daughter relationship in the development of identity, self-esteem, and as a model for how to perform as an adult and a parent, it is not surprising that many women experience conflicts in the mother–daughter relationship (Adelson, 1998; Caplan & Hall-McCorquodale, 1985; Fingerman, 1996; Friedman, 2001; McGraw & Walker, 2004; J. B. Miller & Stiver, 1997; R. Miller & Dwyer, 1997; Surrey, 1993). It is common for conflicts in the mother–daughter relationship to be a central issue that propels women to seek psychotherapy (Maushart, 1999; Surrey, 1993). Thus, a comprehensive assessment tool of the mother–daughter relationship should have many applications in both the clinical and research realm.

Assessment tools have been developed over the years to evaluate the parent–child relationship in general and the mother–daughter relationship in particular. For example, the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) is a relationship assessment tool that was developed by a group of researchers including Carol George, Nancy Kaplan, and Mary Main in 1984 (1988, 1996) based on attachment theory. They designed this interview-based instrument to assess the adult’s capacity to recall their own childhood experiences with their parents (Slade, 2005). The interview takes 1 hr to administer, requires recording and transcription, and then is followed by coding by a trained and certified rater. Attachment styles are designated as autonomous, dismissing, preoccupied, and unresolved/disorganized (George et al., 1984, 1988, 1996). For example, attachment styles as designated by the AAI of parents expecting their first child, proved a valid way to predict the quality of the mother–child attachment at age 1 (Fonagy, Steele, & Steele, 1991).

These early studies spawned theoretical and empirical work on “mentalization” by psychoanalyst Peter Fonagy and colleagues; It’s defined as the adult capacity to understand the thoughts, emotions, and behaviors of oneself and others, affecting emotional regulation/dysregulation (Fonagy, 2008; Fonagy et al., 1991). This capacity is the developmental basis for productive and satisfying social relations, including parent–child relations (Fonagy, 2008; Fonagy, Gergely, Jurist, & Target, 2002). Thus, attachment theory provides an explanation for why early experiences profoundly affect the adult capacity to mentalize and understand the needs of the other, in this case, the capacity to parent a dependent child. Those children who are deprived of a secure attachment to a caring adult are at much higher risk for a range of personality disorders and mental distress in adulthood (Fonagy et al., 2002), which can compromise the capacity for the emotional regulation required in parenthood.

It is interesting to note that research on the long-term impact of parental attachment styles tended to be based on samples of mothers due to high prevalence of mothers as the primary caregivers and the difficulty in recruiting fathers for research (Costigan & Cox, 2001; Lamb, 2010). Limitations of the AAI and it’s derivative assessment tool, the Parent Development Interview (PDI; Slade, Aber, Bresgi, Berger, & Kaplan, 2004), are that they both are very labor intensive, require extensive training in order to code reliably and interpret usefully, and thus are expensive and time consuming to use in research. An advantage of the AAI and PDI is that they closely conform to clinical interviews, thus providing useful directions for further work with dyads or triads in the clinical setting.

An early theory proposed and developed by Vern Bengston and colleagues provided a framework for understanding intergenerational relations and the role of conflict within this relationship (Bengtson, 2001; Bengtson, Giarrusso, Mabry, & Silverstein, 2002; Bengtson & Schrader, 1982). This “intergenerational solidarity framework” posited three types of solidarity: association, affection, and consensus tempered by three contextual moderators: rate of intergenerational exchange; norms of solidarity such as strength of obligation felt toward family members; and familial structure such as physical proximity, family size, or cohabitation patterns (Bengtson, 2001; Cooney & Dykstra, 2013). Thus, the strength and the emotional valence of the mother–daughter relationship are both considered key substrates upon which situational moderators act in determining the quality of the interaction and the extent of expressed solidarity. However, this intergenerational assessment questionnaire runs to 45 pages and requires approximately 2 hr to complete (Mangen, 1988; Richards, Bengtson, & Miller, 1989; Silverstein, Conroy, Wang, Giarrusso, & Bengtson, 2002). Thus, while comprehensive and inclusive, this instrument too is very time consuming and complicated to use either in research or in the clinical setting.

Another instrument appearing often in psychiatric research is the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) developed by Parker, Tupling, and Brown, 1979. This self-report instrument of 25 questions represents two dimensions: high and low levels of care and overprotection, which then yield four distinct parenting styles, with the high care and low protection deemed as the “optimal parenting” style. Accumulated research shows that the PBI quantifies adverse parenting styles, which were found related to a wide variety of psychiatric disorders in adulthood (Parker, 1990; Parker et al., 1999). However, the emphasis of the PBI is on the pathological aspects of parenting rather than on what works and is effective in building self-esteem and adaptive adult functioning. It is, however, of reasonable length for use in research and clinical work.

Rastogi developed a culturally sensitive Mother–Adult Daughter Scale (MAD) for use in cross-cultural studies with three subscales: connectedness, interdependence, and trust in hierarchy (Rastogi, 2002; Rastogi & Wampler, 1999). However, this measure assesses the mother–daughter relationship as it is today, without including aspects of the mother–daughter relationship as it has developed over time. The connectedness subscale reflects the frequency of contact, with some affective measures but no negative elements, which may have importance clinically and in research. The trust in hierarchy subscale relates to the cultural norms of respect for parental authority, which differ among various ethnic groups. To date, the MAD Scale has been tested in one additional study, an MA thesis conducted in Turkey, which established the positive correlation between the MAD subscales and daughters’ life satisfaction and self-esteem (Onaylı, Erdur-Baker, & Aksöz, 2010).

In summary, there is no easily administered assessment tool, reflecting both positive and negative aspects of the mother–daughter relationship, including how the relationship has changed over time, which might be applicable in community-based studies of adult women to assess their relationship with their mothers. Such an instrument might provide insights into diverse aspects of the rich and complicated relationships that exist between mothers and their daughters and point to valuable areas for research and clinical practice.

The purpose of the current study is to describe the development and evaluation of a new measure of mother–daughter relationships, specifically developed for adult women and applicable in a variety of settings. This new measure, the Adult Daughter–Mother Relationship Questionnaire (ADMRQ), draws on culturally embedded narratives of adult women on how their relationship with their mother developed over time, including both positive and negative aspects. The instrument was designed to be easily administered, scored, and applicable in both self-report and interview formats.

Method

The research was conducted in three phases. In the first phase, a general thematic analysis of mother–daughter interviews from women from a variety of ethnic groups was used to uncover the major themes and patterns in the mother–daughter relationship, following the method of Tutty, Rothery, and Grinnell, 1996. Recognizing the centrality and cultural context of the mother–daughter relationship in health maintenance, we studied mother–daughter pairs from a variety of ethnic backgrounds (Mendlinger & Cwikel, 2008). Approximately one third of the interviews in this phase were conducted among Jewish, American mothers and daughters and the rest among both native-born and immigrant mother–daughter Israeli dyads from a variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds. These included mothers who originated in Europe, North America, Ethiopia, Republics of the Former Soviet Union, North Africa, and Israel (Mendlinger & Cwikel, 2008), representing both religious and secular lifestyles and from both modern and traditional backgrounds. In keeping with the feminist and social epidemiological research traditions, the emphasis was on what keeps women well and allows them to function as adults (Gidron, Levy, & Cwikel, 2006; Griffin & Phoenix, 1994; Lindsey, 1997; Rogan, Shmied, Barclay, Everitt, & Wyllie, 1997). However, the interview also allowed for the expression of negative aspects of the relationship typified by emotions such as anger or disappointment. All the daughters in the original study were themselves mothers of at least one child, having negotiated the transition to motherhood in a way that either echoed or differed from the mothering style they themselves had experienced. Both mothers and daughters were interviewed about their relationship with their own mother, separately. Thus, while all the daughters were reflecting on a parent who was alive and in a relationship to them, some of the mothers reported on a relationship to a mother who may have already passed away. In either case, the salience of the mother–daughter relationship was strong and showed a potent effect on their current functioning, regardless of whether the mother was currently alive and involved with her daughter, alive but incapacitated, or had passed away.

From the themes extracted from these interviews, key statements were rendered into statements on a Likert-type scale with five points of agreement ranging from “strongly agree” (5) to “strongly do not agree” (1), reflecting aspects of the daughter’s relationship to her mother. See Appendix for the initial and revised versions of the ADMRQ.

In the second phase, the initial questionnaire was circulated to 10 women psychotherapists with extensive clinical and psychotherapeutic experience with women to act as judges of face and content validity. Judges gave their opinion on the clarity, representativeness of the questions and provided suggestions for revisions as needed. Their suggestions were incorporated to make the instrument more comprehensive and exhaustive regarding the salient issues in the mother–daughter relationship. For example, one judge noted that the instrument had to include an option for single children. Another noted that daughters sometimes report that their mothers were jealous and lived vicariously through them. Changes were made to clarify wording and eliminate confusing or vague items. Two versions were prepared: One for women whose mother was still alive (see Appendix) and one for women whose mothers had passed away or was incapacitated, rendering the relationship inactive (available from the author on request). This differentiation was according to the findings from the first phase of the study that emphasized the pivotal role of the relationship regardless whether the mother was currently alive or involved. The final questionnaire consisted of 53 questions with a final open question to assess additional aspects that respondents might want to add. A standard demographic questionnaire was included at the end for research purposes.

In the third phase, the final questionnaire was circulated to a convenience sample including both professionals working with women and community-dwelling women. A special effort was made to include women currently in psychotherapy to show concurrent validity. The research was approved by the University’s Social Work Department Ethics Committee and all those who completed the questionnaire gave informed consent. These results were then analyzed to test the structure of the questionnaire, to detect correlations with demographic indicators and with the psychotherapy status in the past year (in psychotherapy, yes or no) in order to demonstrate construct and convergent validity. A subsample was retested after 4–6 weeks in order to show test–retest reliability.

Data Analysis

The SPSS program (Version 18) was used for data analysis. Statistics used were χ², correlations, and factor analysis. A series of exploratory factor analyses were conducted using a principal components analysis with Varimax rotation with Kaiser Normalization (weights reported if they exceeded 0.45) until a final parsimonious result was achieved. The final reported factor analysis eliminated items that did not load at 0.45 on any factor. Three factors were then formed into additive scales and their internal consistency tested by Cronbach’s α. The resulting scales were tested for their convergent validity by bivariate correlations or t-tests with demographic variables and the psychotherapy status of the respondent. In the case of country of origin group, marital status, level of religiosity, a one-way analysis of variance was conducted.

Sample

A sample of 147 was collected in Israel, 117 (79.6%) from women whose mothers were alive, and 30 (20.4%) from women whose mothers had passed away or were incapacitated. Thirteen were only children (6.6%). The sample included 61 students of social sciences (41.5%), 19 mental health professionals (12.9%), and 67 (45.6%) community-residing women who were recruited at workshops, lectures, and in voluntary organizations. For a subsample of women (n = 93), we determined whether in the past year they had been receiving psychotherapy or any other mental health treatment. Of this subsample, 34 (23.1% of the total sample and 36.6% of the subsample) were in treatment. In addition, 15 women completed the questionnaire twice over a 4- to 6-week interval to determine test–retest reliability.

Results

Table 1 shows the demographic distribution of the sample. The average age of the sample was 38.04 (SD = 13.4). Most were married and secular, and the modal educational attainment was a first academic degree with 90.3% having some higher education. The majority were Israeli born (72.9%), with others having immigrated from Europe (6.9%), North and South America (6.2%), the Former Soviet Union (5.5%), and Asia Africa (5.5%). The majority had children (62.2%), the number ranging from 1 to 7 with the average being 1.7 children.

Table 1.

Demographic Characteristics of the Sample.

Characteristic	n	Percentage^a
Age (years)
16–30	58	40.5
31–45	50	35.0
46–70	35	24.5
Education
Up to high school	14	9.7
Bachelor of arts	67	46.5
Master of arts	56	38.9
PhD	7	4.9
Marital status
Single	38	26.4
Separated/divorced/widowed	8	5.6
Married or living with partner	98	68.0
Region or country of origin
Israeli born	105	72.9
Asia Africa	8	5.5
United States–S. America	9	6.2
Former Soviet Union	8	5.5
Europe	10	6.9
Religiosity
Secular	87	61.7
Traditional	32	22.7
Religious	22	15.6

^aPercentage excluding missing data, n = 4, 3, 3, 3, and 6, respectively.

The content analysis from the first phase revealed four major themes that formed the basis of the questionnaire: (1) the quality and closeness of the relationship, (2) the evaluation by the daughter of the mother’s parenting skills, (3) the degree of dependency/interdependency in the dyad, and (4) the degree to which life circumstances were similar or different between the mother and daughter (e.g., did they grow up in different countries and was their level of education or religious observance different or similar?).

Table 2 shows the results of the factor analysis. Questions about relations with siblings (Questions 30–33 and 35–39) were excluded because these questions were not consistently answered by all respondents. Thus, 44 questions were initially analyzed in the factor analysis. The most parsimonious solution was obtained with three factors including 35 questions. All final items loaded at .45 and greater on one specific factor and less than .30 on any other factor. Nine questions were excluded from the final factor analysis because they did not load at .45 on any factor (Questions 8, 9, 12, 13, 17, 25, 29, 42, and 44). The first factor included both positive and negative affective (NA) reactions to mother. It was comprised of 24 items (eigenvalue = 12.6) and accounted for 32.04% of variance. Nine items loaded in a negative direction and 15 in a positive direction. The second factor represented ambivalent relations with mother, comprising 7 positive items (eigenvalue = 2.8), which accounted for 11.28% of the variance. The third factor reflected dependence/interdependence and was comprised of 4 items (eigenvalue = 1.87), accounting for 6.07% of the variance. One item (Question 40) loaded in a negative direction. This three-factor solution accounted for a total of 49.4% of the variance in the data.

Table 2.

Results From Principal Components Analysis With Varimax Rotation.

Phrase (Question #)	Factor 1: Affective Response	Factor 2: Ambivalent Relations	Factor 3: Interdependence
Enjoy M’s company (43)	.839
M amazing woman (1)	.821
Identify with grandmother (16)	−.785
M encouraged personal development (6)	.738
M doesn’t understand me (4)	−.731
I confided in M (15)	.723
M accomplished things and I am proud (2)	.711
M taught me many things (11)	.710
Want to be a different kind of mother	−.706
M gave me strong sense of self (51)	.703
M has good attributes (47)	.694
M encouraged professional development (7)	.688
Lot of anger toward M (48)	−.686
M praised my accomplishments	.668
M had no idea (41)	−.659
M open to learning (46)	.592
M had no time for me (24)	−.590
I learned how to mother from M (19)	.585
Unexpressed anger toward M (49)	−.579
M didn’t pay attention (3)	−.529
I wish I had more time for M (14)	.526
I shared secrets with M (20)	.516
I am like my M in personality (18)	.508
M should have protected me (26)	−.465
M had high expectations (52)		.779
M blocked new things (28)		.590
M had many demands (45)		.528
M overprotected me (27)		.521
I express anger toward M (50)		.471
M lived vicariously through me (53)		.470
Unsure of M’s reactions (23)		.463
Financial dependent on M (40)			−.625
I have access to opportunities (10)			.607
I am caretaker (5)			.580
M depended on me (21)			.525

Note. Items included if .45 loading and above. M = Mother.

Given the large number of both positive and negative items reflecting the affective reactions, separate additive scales were constructed with only positive affect (PA) items (15 items, α = .927) and negative affect (NA) items (9 items, α = .907). Ambivalent relations (AR) (7 items) had adequate internal consistency with α = .697 and interdependent relations (IR, 4 items) also had adequate internal consistency (α = .625).

As shown in Table 3, the PA and NA Scales were highly correlated (r = −.807, p < .01). The AR Scale correlated negatively with the PA (r = −.410, p < .01) and positively with the NA Scale (r = .543, p < .01). The AR and IR Scales were correlated (r = .209, p < .05). The highest mean values were in the PA Scale and in the IR Scale. The lowest mean value was in the AR Scale.

Table 3.

Means, SD, 95% Confidence Intervals (CIs), and Intercorrelations of the Four Scales.

Scale	Mean	SD	95% CI	Negative Affect	Ambivalent Relations	Interdependency
Positive affect	3.39	0.84	[2.55, 4.23]	−.807***	−.410***	−.043
Negative affect	2.79	1.02	[1.77, 3.81]	—	.543***	.070
Ambivalent	2.29	0.69	[1.6, 2.98]	—	—	.209*
Interdependency	3.23	0.78	[2.45, 4.01]	—	—	—

*p < .05. ***p < .001.

Religious observance and being born in Israel were not related to any of the ADMRQ subscales. However, age was negatively associated with the PA Scale (r = −.220, p < .01) and associated with the NA Scale at a level approaching statistical significance (r = .154, p = .07) and positively associated with the IR Scale (r = .458, p < .05) and AR Scale (r = .175, p < .05). The Interdependency Scale was also positively related to the level of education and the number of children, respectively (r = .295, p < .01, r = .262, p < .01). Education and the number of children were not associated with the other scales. Marital status was related to three of the four scales, with those who are divorced or widowed showing the poorest relationships, highest on the NA Scale (F = 3.61, p < .05) and lowest levels on the PA Scale (7.57, p < .01), while those who are single had the lowest scores on the IR Scales compared to married or divorced or widowed respondents (F = 9.46, p = .000). Marital status was not related to the AR Scale.

Having a mother alive capable of interacting was related to all the ADMRQ Scales in the direction of more positive relations when the mother is alive compared to respondents whose mothers were deceased or incapacitated. Respondents whose mother was alive had higher PA Scores (t = 3.16, df = 137, p < .01), lower NA scores (t = −1.88, df = 144, p = .05), lower IR scores (t = −3.45, df = 144, p < .01), and lower scores on the AR Scale (t = −2.33, df = 144, p < .05).

Among those whose psychotherapy status was determined (n = 93), t-tests between being in psychotherapy in the past year and PA and NA showed less PA among those in psychotherapy (t = −1.98, df = 137, p = .05) and a strong relationship with NA Scale (t = 2.98, df = 144, p < .01) with those in psychotherapy showing much greater NA. The IR Scale did not differ between those in psychotherapy and those who were not. However, the AR Scale did differ with those in psychotherapy being more ambivalent (t = 1.99, df = 144, p = .05).

A closer look at the individual ADMRQ questions showed that 12 specific questions differentiated between those who were currently in psychotherapy and those who were not (t-test results < .05). These are marked in Appendix with an asterisk (*). Specifically, two positive questions [I enjoy Mother’s (M’s) company (43) and M gave me a strong sense of self (51)] were significantly lower among those in psychotherapy. Six negative questions were rated higher among those in psychotherapy; M doesn’t understand me (4), M had no idea (41), M had no time for me (24), unexpressed anger toward M (49), M didn’t pay attention (3), and M should have protected me (26). Three ambivalence questions were significantly higher among those in psychotherapy [M had high expectations (52), M blocked new things (28), and unsure of M’s reactions when in trouble (23)]. Being financially dependent on M (40) was significantly related to being in psychotherapy.

Among those who repeated the questionnaire within a month (n = 15), the mean change of the items was 0.61 in scores with a range of 0.42–1.23 for all the items. This indicates very good test–retest reliability, as this change level is equivalent to approximately half of a Likert-type scale level change.

Discussion

This article presents preliminary findings on the development and psychometric properties of the newly formed ADMRQ which assesses the quality of the mother–daughter relationship among adult women, regardless of whether their mother is currently alive or not. The advantages of this scale are that it was developed based on the rich descriptions given by women on how their relationship with their mothers evolved from their childhood over their adolescence and into adulthood. Some topics that were expected to affect the mother–daughter relationship, such as differing life opportunities or competition with mother during adolescence, were ultimately not retained in the final version. However, these topics may be found to be clinically important or valid in future research efforts. Mothering skills were retained but not as a separate factor rather they were included in the affect scales. Thus, as suggested by attachment theory (Fonagy, 2008), the impact of ambivalent or insensitive caring is expressed by low levels of PA toward mother in adulthood.

Not unexpectedly, NA and PA were significantly correlated and loaded on the same, affective factor. Women who were closer to other female relatives instead of to their mothers were more likely to report negative relationships. Statements describing mothers who did not understand, protect, or have time for their daughters or whose behavior was confusing and inconsistent were associated with less PA relationships. These findings are parallel to what has been found in other studies of adult attachment based on attachment theory relating to mothers who were preoccupied or failed to protect their daughters in childhood (George et al., 1984, 1988, 1996).

Differing life opportunities did not show any significant effect on the mother–daughter relationship in contrast to the earlier, qualitative analyses. This is surprising in light of the robust nature of the consensus as found by Bengston and coresearchers as an indicator of intergenerational solidarity (Bengtson et al., 2002). Also, given that both immigration status and religious observance strongly affect women’s mental health (Cwikel & Segal-Engelchin, 2005), the findings that religiosity and immigration status were unrelated to the ADMRQ results were surprising. These results also differ from what Bengston found in his research on the social and cultural effects on intergenerational solidarity (Bengtson, 2001). It could be that other demographic factors influence the mother–daughter relationship more than ethnicity and religious observance, such as educational achievement.

It is remarkable that so many positive aspects of mothering were retained in the final questionnaire. This indicates that the ADMRQ successfully emphasized the empowering aspects inherent in the mother–daughter relationship. These include encouraging personal and professional development, praising the daughter’s accomplishments, and teaching mothering skills. Yet, the relationship is reciprocal and daughters acknowledge PA reactions to their mothers in statements such as being proud of one’s mother and her accomplishments, confiding and sharing secrets, wanting to spend time with her, and assessing her as an amazing woman. These are aspects of the relationship that can be highlighted in clinical work with women.

As expected, anger and its expression were important topics in the relationship. A high level of anger or unexpressed anger was particularly potent in the NA factor. When anger was expressed toward mother, this fed into the AR factor. Anger loaded together with lack of protection and attention on the NA Scale. This contrasts with the Parenting Bonding Instrument by Parker and colleagues, which emphasized two aspects (care and protection) as being central to parenting styles but found that they loaded on two separate factors and were not associated with anger (Parker, 1990; Parker et al., 1997).

AR was associated with PA and NA responses but in opposite directions. A combination of high expectations and demands and blocking opportunities resulted in a distinct AR, with high expressed anger, and was characterized by such statements as “I never knew how my mother would react” or “My mother lived vicariously through me.” These topics would be important to develop further in both research and clinical practice.

Finally, being overdependent on one’s mother for financial support was negatively related to being a caretaker, accessing opportunities for oneself, and having mother who is dependent on her daughter for care. Caring for a disabled parent over time can erode PA. This trend was more common as mothers advance in age. The negative changes in the relationship observed in this study parallel the theoretical model, in which aspects of the mother–daughter relationship are modified as mothers age and develop, stretching over a matrix of tensions (Oberman & Josselson, 1996) as well as empirical research suggesting that the mother–daughter relationship may be strained as mothers age (Birditt & Fingerman, 2013). Indeed, as the findings show, as women age, the positive aspects decreased, and the negative, ambivalence, and interdependency scales increased.

Being married was associated with greater PA, while being divorced or separated was associated with greater negative aspects in the mother–daughter relationship. Thus, it seems that some aspects of the mother–daughter relationship are colored by conflict or distress in other interpersonal relationships such as with a spouse. Given that we tested adult women, it is difficult to know exactly how the mother–daughter relationship affected the capacity of women to establish intimacy and stability in their marital relationships. This would require further research with the instrument in a sample studied prospectively over time.

Interdependency was not associated with the affective scales but was associated with ambivalence. This independence of derived factors suggests that these are distinct constructs. This is similar to the finding reported, which shows that financial dependence is associated with ambivalent relations in adult mothers and daughters (Pillemer & Suitor, 2002). Interdependency was also found salient in the MAD mother–daughter scale (Rastogi, 2002).

The ADMRQ can be used to test individual scores on the scales by adding the scores on the questions as shown in Appendix. Thus, a client in therapy might want to see whether their score falls within or outside the 95% confidence interval. Results falling above or below these values suggest an aspect of the mother–daughter relationship that could be further explored in therapy. Individual questions may also resonate for specific clients, opening up reflection on of how mothers functioned as parents, incorporating both the positive and negative aspects and promoting understanding and acceptance. The specific questions that differentiated between those in psychotherapy from the rest of the sample might be useful points of departure in a therapeutic setting, allowing for expression of unexpressed negative emotions and memories.

There are many avenues for future research based on these preliminary psychometric evaluation results. While the qualitative phase of the study was conducted both in the United States and in Israel, given that the cross-sectional phase of the study was conducted only in Israel, this limits the applicability of the measure to other samples. While the Israeli population is quite heterogeneous in ethnic and social structure, it is still important that future research will test the questionnaire in multicultural samples in other national contexts. Furthermore, while the mother–daughter relationship is important, it would be helpful to expand the use of the ADMRQ to explore father–daughter and mother–son and other dyadic relations in the complex families of today. We are currently using the ADMRQ in a sample of mothers and their teenage daughters, exploring how the mother–daughter relationship influences disordered eating among the daughters. Longitudinal research could highlight what aspects of the relationship are important in, for example, preventing perinatal mood and anxiety disorders among new mothers. Future studies might also compare the ADMRQ with other existing scales such as the MAD, PBI, or the PDI.

In conclusion, the ADMRQ has good psychometric properties, includes both positive and negative aspects of the mother–daughter relationship, draws on the changing relationship between mothers and daughters over time, and is applicable in both clinical and epidemiological research.

Footnotes

Appendix

The question’s scale is indicated at the end of the question: PA, NA, AR, interdependent relationship (IR). Questions in italics were not retained in the final questionnaire. Questions marked with * differentiated between those in psychotherapy and those not in psychotherapy.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

References

Adams

(1995). Maternal bonds: Recent literature on mothering. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 20, 414–427.

Adelson

M. J.

(1998). Mother and daughter: Secrets and lies. Journal of Clinical Psychoanalysis, 7, 389–399.

Baruch

Barnett

R. C.

(1983). Adult daughters’ relationships with their mothers. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 45, 601–606.

Bengtson

V. L.

(2001). Beyond the nuclear family: The increasing importance of multigenerational bonds. Journal of Marriage and Family, 63, 1–16.

Bengtson

V. L.

Giarrusso

Mabry

J. B.

Silverstein

(2002). Solidarity, conflict, and ambivalence: Complementary or competing perspectives on intergenerational relationships? Journal of Marriage and Family, 64, 568–576.

Bengtson

V. L.

Schrader

S. S.

(1982). Parent-child relations. In Mangen

Peterson

(Eds.), Handbook of research instruments in social gerontology (Vol. 2, pp. 115–186). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Besser

Priel

(2005). The apple does not fall far from the tree: Attachment styles and personality vulnerabilities to depression in three generations of women. Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin, 31, 1052–1073.

Birditt

K. S.

Fingerman

K. L.

(2013). Parent–child and intergenerational relationships in adulthood. In Fine

M. A.

Fincham

F. D.

(Eds.), Handbook of family theories: A content-based approach (p. 71). New York, NY: Routledge.

Blaxter

Patterson

(1982). Mothers and daughters—A three-generational study of health attitudes and behavior. London, England: Heinemann.

10.

Caplan

P. J.

Hall-McCorquodale

(1985). Mother-blaming in major clinical journals. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 55, 345–353.

11.

Cooney

Dykstra

(2013). Theories and their empirical support in the study of intergenerational family relationships in adulthood. In Fine

M. A.

Fincham

F. D.

(Eds.), Handbook of family theories: A content-based approach (pp. 356–380). New York, NY: Routledge.

12.

Costigan

C. L.

Cox

M. J.

(2001). Fathers’ participation in family research: Is there a self-selection bias? Journal of Family Psychology, 15, 706–720.

13.

Cwikel

Segal-Engelchin

(2005). Implications of ethnic group origin for Israeli women’s mental health. Journal of Immigrant Health, 7, 133–143.

14.

Fingerman

K. L.

(1996). Sources of tension in the aging mother and adult daughter relationship. Psychology and Aging, 11, 591–606.

15.

Fischer

L. R.

(1981). Transitions in the mother-daughter relationship. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 43, 613–622.

16.

Fischer

L. R.

(1986). Linked lives: Adult daughters and their mothers. New York, NY: Harper & Row.

17.

Fonagy

(2008). The mentalization-focused approach to social development. In Busch

F. N.

(Ed.), Mentalization: Theoretical considerations, research findings, and clinical implications (Vol. 29, pp. 3–56). New York, NY: The Analytic Press.

18.

Fonagy

Gergely

Jurist

Target

(2002). Affect regulation, mentalization, and the development of the self. New York, NY: Other Press.

19.

Fonagy

Steele

(1991). Maternal representations of attachment during pregnancy predict the organization of infant-mother attachment at one year of age. Child Development, 62, 891–905.

20.

Friday

(1977). My mother/myself. New York, NY: Dell.

21.

Friedman

(2001). The thief of happiness: The story of an extraordinary psychotherapy. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.

22.

George

Kaplan

Main

(1984, 1988, 1996). The adult attachment interview. Unpublished protocol (3rd ed.). Berkeley, CA: Department of Psychology, University of California.

23.

Gidron

Levy

Cwikel

(2006). Psychosocial and reported inflammatory disease correlates of self-reported heart disease in women from South of Israel. Women & Health, 44, 25–40.

24.

Griffin

Phoenix

(1994). The relationship between qualitative and quantitative research—Lessons from feminist psychology. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 4, 287–298.

25.

Hyman

(1981). Stereotypes: On becoming a Jewish mother. In Strassfeld

Green

(Eds.), The Jewish family book (pp. 11–16). New York, NY: Bantam Books.

26.

Lamb

M. E.

(2010). How do fathers influence children’s development? Let me count the ways. In Lamb

M. E.

(Ed.), The role of the father in child development (5th ed., pp. 1–11). Cambridge, England: John Riley.

27.

Lindsey

E. W.

(1997). Feminist issues in qualitative research with formerly homeless mothers. Journal of Women and Social Work, 12, 57–75.

28.

Mangen

D. J.

(1988). Measurement of intergenerational family relations. In Mangen

D. J.

Bengtson

V. L.

Landry

P. H.

Jr . (Eds.), Measurement of intergenerational relations (pp. 31–53). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

29.

Maushart

(1999). The mask of motherhood: How becoming a mother changes our lives and why we never talk about it. New York, NY: Penguin Books.

30.

McGraw

L. A.

Walker

A. J.

(2004). Negotiating care: Ties between aging mothers and their caregiving daughters. The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 59, S324–S332.

31.

Mendlinger

Cwikel

(2008). Spiraling between qualitative and quantitative data on women’s health behaviors: A double helix model for mixed methods. Qualitative Health Research, 18, 280–293.

32.

Menke

E. M.

(1983). Menstrual beliefs and experiences of mother-daughter dyads. In Golub

(Ed.), Menarche: The transition from girl to woman (pp. 133–137). Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.

33.

Miller

(1995). A typology of mother-daughter relationship patterns for young adult women and their mothers. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 16, 377–394.

34.

Miller

J. B.

Stiver

(1997). The healing connection: How women form relationships in therapy and in life. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.

35.

Miller

Dwyer

(1997). Reclaiming the Mother-daughter relationship after sexual abuse. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, 18, 194–202.

36.

Miller-Day

(2004). Communication among grandmothers, mothers, and adult daughters: A qualitative study of maternal relationships. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

37.

Notar

McDaniel

S. A.

(1986). Feminist attitudes and mother-daughter relationships in adolescence. Adolescence, 21, 11–21.

38.

Oberman

Josselson

(1996). Matrix of mothering: A model of mothering. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 20, 341–359.

39.

Onaylı

Erdur-Baker

Ö.

Aksöz

İ.

(2010). The Turkish adaptation of the mother-adult daughter questionnaire. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 5, 1516–1520.

40.

Parker

(1990). The parental bonding instrument–a decade of research. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 25, 281–282.

41.

Parker

Roussos

HadziPavlovic

Mitchell

Wilhelm

Austin

M. P.

(1997). The development of a refined measure of dysfunctional parenting and assessment of its relevance in patients with affective disorders. Psychological Medicine, 27, 1193–1203.

42.

Parker

Roy

Wilhelm

Mitchell

Austin

M. P.

Hadzi-Pavlovic

(1999). An exploration of links between early parenting experiences and personality disorder type and disordered personality functioning. Journal of Personality Disorders, 13, 361–374.

43.

Parker

Tupling

Brown

L. B.

(1979). A parental bonding instrument. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 52, 1–10.

44.

Pillemer

Suitor

J. J.

(2002). Explaining mothers’ ambivalence toward their adult children. Journal of Marriage and Family, 64, 602–613.

45.

Rastogi

(2002). The Mother-Adult Daughter Questionnaire (MAD): Developing a culturally sensitive instrument. The Family Journal, 10, 145–155.

46.

Rastogi

Wampler

K. S.

(1999). Adult daughters’ perceptions of the mother-daughter relationship: A cross-cultural comparison. Family Relations, 48, 327–336.

47.

Rich

(1995). Of woman born–motherhood as experience and institution. New York, NY: W.W. Norton.

48.

Richards

L. N.

Bengtson

V. L.

Miller

R. B.

(1989). The “generation in the middle”: Perceptions of changes in adults’ intergenerational relationships. Family Systems and Life-span Development, 8, 341–366.

49.

Rogan

Shmied

Barclay

Everitt

Wyllie

(1997). ‘Becoming a mother’—Developing a new theory of early motherhood. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 25, 877–885.

50.

Schaffer

(1977). Mothering. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

51.

Shrier

D. K.

Tompsett

Shrier

L. A.

(2004). Adult mother-daughter relationships: A review of the theoretical research literature. Journal of American Academic Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry, 32, 91–115.

52.

Siegel

D. J.

Hartzell

(2004). Parenting from the inside out. New York, NY: Penguin.

53.

Silverstein

Conroy

S. J.

Wang

Giarrusso

Bengtson

V. L.

(2002). Reciprocity in parent–child relations over the adult life course. The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 57, S3–S13.

54.

Slade

(2005). Parental reflective functioning: An introduction. Attachment and Human Development, 7, 269–281.

55.

Slade

Aber

J. L.

Bresgi

Berger

Kaplan

(2004). The parent development interview—Revised (Unpublished protocol). New York: The City University of New York.

56.

Suitor

J. J.

Pillemer

(2006). Choosing daughters: Exploring why mothers favor adult daughters over sons. Sociological Perspectives, 49, 139–161.

57.

Surrey

(1993). The mother-daughter relationship. Themes in psychotherapy. In van Mens-Verhulst

Schreurs

Woertman

(Eds.), Daughtering and mothering: Female subjectivity reanalysed (pp. 114–124). New York, NY: Basic Books.

58.

Tannen

(2006). You’re wearing that?: Understanding mothers and daughters in conversation. New York, NY: Ballantine Books.

59.

Tutty

L. M.

Rothery

M. A.

Grinnell

R. M.

(1996). Qualitative research for social workers: Phases, steps, & tasks. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.