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J Happiness Stud (2013) 14:1343–1361 DOI 10.1007/s10902-012-9386-7 RESEARCH PAPER

Links Between Parents’ and Children’s Levels of Gratitude, Life Satisfaction, and Hope Brenna D. Hoy • Shannon M. Suldo • Linda Raffaele Mendez

Published online: 17 September 2012 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012

Abstract Decades of research confirm familial links in mental illness, but little is known about the relationships between parents’ and children’s levels of positive emotions. The current study used a past, present, and future framework of positive emotions to explore parent and child levels of gratitude, life satisfaction, and hope. Correlations between selfreported levels of gratitude, life satisfaction, and hope were analyzed in a sample of 148 fourth and fifth grade students and their biological parents (137 mothers, 109 fathers). Findings include statistically significant relationships between (1) mother and child gratitude (but not father and child gratitude) and (2) child life satisfaction and both mothers’ and fathers’ life satisfaction. No significant relationships emerged between parent hope and child hope, although higher parent life satisfaction was associated with higher child hope. Research is needed to investigate the causes of the links identified in the current study. Keywords

Gratitude  Life satisfaction  Hope  Family links  Children

1 Introduction One pillar of the positive psychology paradigm is the study of positive emotions (e.g., gratitude, forgiveness, satisfaction, hope, etc.), which can be considered indicators of overall wellness (Seligman 2002). The presence of these emotions has been linked with a plethora of positive social, emotional, and academic outcomes in youth and adults (Fredrickson and Kurtz 2011). In contrast to the growing literature regarding outcomes of positive emotions, there is scarce understanding about the etiology of wellness. Specifically, little is known about the possible links between parents’ levels of wellness and their children’s levels. Given the gaps in the literature, the purpose of this study was to explore the direction and magnitude of links between parents’ levels of positive emotions and their children’s levels of these same emotions. The following literature review describes the B. D. Hoy  S. M. Suldo (&)  L. R. Mendez Department of Psychological and Social Foundations, University of South Florida, 4202 East Fowler Avenue, EDU 105, Tampa, FL 33620, USA e-mail: [email protected]

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specific positive emotions chosen for focus in the current study, summarizes outcomes associated with positive emotions, and synthesizes previous research on links between child and parent positive emotions. 1.1 Conceptual Framework Just as constructs of dysfunction (e.g., depression, anxiety, schizophrenia) have been the foci of the psychopathological roots of contemporary psychology, researchers within the positive psychology umbrella have identified a myriad of constructs that reflect positive experiences and/or assess human experience beyond the presence or absence of problems. Seligman (2002) advanced a model for understanding positive emotions in the past, present, and future through indicators of gratitude, life satisfaction, and hope, respectively. In this model, overall well-being is tied to one’s perceptions as reflected in each of the three emotions. Gratitude entails a retrospective appreciation of past events. It has been defined as ‘‘a sense of thankfulness and joy in response to receiving a gift, whether the gift be a tangible benefit from a specific other or a moment of peaceful bliss evoked by natural beauty’’ (Peterson and Seligman 2004, p. 554). In adults, gratitude has been linked with high levels of vitality and optimism and lower levels of stress and depression (McCullough et al. 2002). The growing literature on gratitude in youth mirrors these associations and also indicates improved academic achievement, higher levels of prosocial behavior, and overall positive health and emotional outcomes (Froh et al. 2009, 2011a, b). Life satisfaction (i.e., the cognitive component of subjective well-being) reflects a present satisfaction and contentment with one’s life. It has been defined as a ‘‘judgmental process in which individuals assess the quality of their lives on the basis of their own unique set of criteria’’ (Pavot and Diener 1993, p. 164). Thus, it is an individual’s level of satisfaction and contentment with the quality of his or her presently occurring life. Desirable outcomes associated with high life satisfaction in adults include more satisfying social relationships as well as improved physical and mental health states (Eid and Larsen 2008). Research has consistently demonstrated that life satisfaction in youth is linked with more satisfying relationships with adults and peers, better attitudes towards teachers, and lower stress and depression levels (Gilman and Huebner 2006), as well as lower levels of externalizing behaviors (Suldo and Huebner 2004). Hope is a future-focused positive emotion in that it entails expectation of things to come. Hope has been defined as a ‘‘belief that one can find pathways to desired goals and become motivated to use those pathways’’ (Snyder et al. 2005, p. 257). In adult samples, higher hope has been associated with improved physical health, self-esteem, and academic achievement in college (Chang 1998; Snyder et al. 1991). Hope in youth also has been strongly linked with greater self-esteem, life satisfaction, academic achievement, and interpersonal skills (Snyder et al. 1997; Valle et al. 2006). Together, these three related but separable constructs serve as a triad of emotions that encompass the past, present, and future. 1.2 Development of Positive Emotions Given the vast array of positive outcomes associated with the aforementioned positive emotions, it seems critical to examine what factors may lead to their development. Several within-person factors, including religiosity/spirituality and personality traits (e.g., agreeableness, extroversion, low neuroticism) have been linked to gratitude (Adler and Fagley 2005; Emmons and Kneezel 2005; McCullough et al. 2002), life satisfaction

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(Steel et al. 2008), and hope (Ciarrocchi et al. 2008). In a comprehensive and data-based model, Lyubomirsky et al. (2005) asserted that happiness among adults has three classes of determinants: a genetic set point that involves heritable links in well-being; daily intentional activities (i.e., behavioral, cognitive, or volitional habits and choices); and, to a lesser extent, one’s life circumstances (e.g., demographic characteristics, personal history such as trauma, region of residence, physical health, religiosity, etc.). The genetic set point reportedly accounts for a full 50 % of the variance in adults’ happiness levels. By way of evidence for a genetic set point, Lyubomirsky et al. (2005) cited findings from (1) longitudinal twin studies that found monozygotic twins (MZ; identical) have highly similar patterns of happiness trajectories as opposed to weak links between dizygotic twins (DZ; fraternal), and (2) studies that illustrate strong associations between an individual’s happiness level and his or her levels of biologically-based temperament/personality traits. The current study explored the applicability of the conclusion (i.e., the heritability of happiness) to youth wellness by exploring familial links in positive emotions. Anticipated links between parents’ and children’s levels of positive emotions (i.e., positive indicators of mental health) are in line with robust findings in the larger literature pertaining to the etiology of child psychopathology in relation to parents’ psychopathology (Eley 2001; Faraone et al. 2004; Silberg et al. 2010). Research consistently supports a moderate to strong genetic transmission of most psychological disorders between parents and children, and it is accepted that parent psychopathology has a marked impact on children’s risk for developing maladaptive social, emotional, and behavioral concerns (Mowbray et al. 2006; Papp et al. 2004). This link is likely the result of both genetic heritability and a shared environment. Associations between parent and child levels of wellness (i.e., gratitude, life satisfaction, and hope) have yet to be fully explored. A thorough search of the literature yielded only six studies of familial links in positive emotions, as summarized next. 1.3 Empirical Links Between Parents’ and Children’s Levels of Positive Emotions 1.3.1 Gratitude Steger et al. (2007) examined 336 adult twins, including 51 monozygotic pairs and 40 dizygotic pairs, to evaluate the genetic links between character strengths as assessed by the Values in Action survey (VIA; Peterson and Seligman 2004). The correlation between twins’ gratitude was moderate among identical twins (r = 0.39) and small among fraternal twins (r = 0.18). While the majority of the variance in gratitude appears attributable to non-shared environmental factors, the authors estimated that 40 % of the variability in gratitude is due to genetic influence. Although this study did not assess links in gratitude between parents and children, the smaller association between DZ twins’ gratitude levels (in comparison to the moderate correlation between MZ twins) suggests that a small correlation should be expected in gratitude between family members who share half of their genes, such as mother–child and father-child. 1.3.2 Life Satisfaction Three studies have examined parents’ and children’s levels of subjective well-being. Lykken (1999) summarized the findings from Minnesota Twin/Family study, in which a large sample of seventeen-year-old twins and their parents from the United States completed Tellegen’s Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ). The MPQ has an

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18-item Well-Being scale that assesses positive affect, including feelings of cheer, happiness, interest, joy, and contentment with oneself. The well-being levels within 349 pairs of MZ twins and 192 pairs of DZ twins were compared, as were the well-being/happiness scores within 447 groups of parents and children (specifically, ‘‘family correlations [were] midparent–midtwin,’’ p. 122). Results suggested a moderately strong genetic connection between MZ twins (r = 0.47), but only a small correlation between parents and their teenage offspring (r = 0.20) and between DZ twins (r = 0.22). Lykken concluded that although happiness appears to run in families (as noted in the strong relationship among MZ twins), the association between parents and their children may be weak. Casas et al. (2008) examined the life satisfaction levels of 266 Spanish adolescents (ages 12–16) and their parents. Reasoning that the amount of shared genetic material between first-degree relatives such as mother–child mirrors the amount of shared genetic material between fraternal twins, the authors expected a small but significant correlation (approximately 0.20–0.40) between parent and child life satisfaction. Life satisfaction was assessed via the Personal Well-Being Index (Cummins et al. 2003), which measures satisfaction in seven domains (e.g., satisfaction with health, relations with other people, personal security). Participants also completed an additional item that taps overall satisfaction (‘‘How satisfied are you with your life as a whole?’’). A small correlation (r = 0.19) emerged between parents and adolescents on the full Personal Well-Being Index, but the association between parents and adolescents on the one-item indicator of global life satisfaction was not statistically significant. Although this dataset did not support a strong, reliable correlation between parent–child levels of satisfaction with ‘‘life as a whole,’’ the small relationship obtained with the psychometrically stronger measure of multi-dimensional life satisfaction (i.e., the Personal Well Being Index) is noteworthy. Ben-Zur (2003) examined 121 adolescents ages 15–17 from Israel and both their mothers and fathers. The adolescents and parents completed the three-item Life Satisfaction Scale (LSS), which assesses an individual’s general or global outlook on satisfaction with his or her life. Adolescent life satisfaction yielded a moderate correlation (r = 0.34) with fathers’ life satisfaction and a small but significant correlation (r = 0.25) with mothers’ life satisfaction. It is unknown if similar links exist in younger samples of children, but a significant and robust association is expected in accord with the genetic setpoint in subjective well-being (Lyubomirsky et al. 2005). 1.3.3 Hope As part of a larger study on the impact of a goal-oriented reading and writing intervention on American children’s hopefulness, Westburg and Martin (2003) administered the Children’s Hope Scale (CHS; Snyder et al. 1997) to 46 participating children (ages 8–15). Also pre-intervention, 43 of their parents (76.7 % were mothers) completed the Adult Hope Scale (AHS; Snyder et al. 1991). There were 46 parent–child pairs analyzed, as three parents had two children participating in the study. The correlation between parent and child levels of hope was not statistically significant (r = 0.08, p [ .05). Discrepant results were obtained in two other studies. Specifically, Marques et al. (2007) administered the CHS to 256 Portuguese early adolescents (ages 10–15) and the AHS to their 256 ‘‘guardians’’ (66.7 % were female). A moderate, significant correlation (r = 0.37) emerged between children’s and their guardians’ levels of hope, suggesting familial links in hope. This notion is further supported by Steger et al.’s (2007) aforementioned study of character strengths within adult twins. Hope was examined using a 10-item subscale of the VIA. This sample of 366 adult twins yielded a moderate correlation

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between MZ twins’ hope (r = 0.43), and a small correlation between DZ twins’ hope (r = 0.20). No studies were located that examined hope between elementary school age children and their parents. 1.4 Aims of the Current Study Lyubomirsky et al. (2005) posited that individual differences in levels of some positive emotions are largely determined by one’s genetic set point. Family members share genetic material as well as many environmental experiences. In contrast to the logical hypothesis that parents and children should have similar levels of positive emotions, the small body of literature on familial links in wellness generally indicates small (albeit reliable) associations between child and parent positive emotions, particularly with respect to subjective well-being (i.e., life satisfaction and positive affect). Studies yielding this conclusion have been limited to samples of adolescents, whose positive emotions may be particularly susceptible to extra-familial experiences (e.g., peer and romantic relationships; academic success). Therefore, the primary aim of the current study was to explore parent–child links in wellness among young children. Because the experiences of elementary school children are presumably more limited, the sample may yield unique findings that serve to clarify the notion of a biological basis in positive emotions. The extant literature is also limited by a lack of published studies examining parent and child levels of multiple positive emotions (e.g., gratitude, life satisfaction, and hope) simultaneously. While the determinants of subjective well-being have been well articulated (e.g., Lyubomirsky et al. 2005), less has been advanced on the heritability of positive emotions that involve one’s feelings about the past or future. This lack of attention to determinants of gratitude and hope precludes specific hypotheses about which positive emotions may have relatively stronger familial ties. As a first empirical step in uncovering parent–child associations in multiple positive emotions, the current study explored correlations between parents’ and children’s levels of gratitude, life satisfaction, and hope, in line with the triad of positive emotions model espoused by Seligman (2002).

2 Method 2.1 Participants A total of 148 children and 246 of their biological parents participated. The child sample included slightly more girls (52.7 % compared with 47.3 % boys). The sample was almost evenly split between students in fourth grade (49.3 %) and fifth grade (50.7 %) and included children ages 9–11 (M = 10.22; SD = 0.62). Approximately 60.1 % of the children self-identified as White/Caucasian; the remainder were Hispanic (21 %), AfricanAmerican (8.8 %), Asian (5.4 %), multi-racial (3.4 %), or other ethnicity (1.4 %). Data were collected from 137 biological mothers and 109 biological fathers. Some additional caregivers who identified as a participating child’s stepparent (n = 4 stepmothers, n = 8 stepfathers), adoptive parent (n = 1 adoptive father), or grandparent (n = 3 grandmothers, n = 2 grandfathers) also submitted completed measures. The small sample sizes precluded analysis of data by subgroup other than biological parent, and the data from these additional caregivers were subsequently removed from the dataset. Biological mothers ranged in age from 26 to 60 (M = 40.10, SD = 5.44). The majority of these mothers self-identified as White (approximately 69.3 %); others were Hispanic

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(16.1 %), Asian (6.6 %), African-American (5.8 %), and multi-racial (1.5 %) or other ethnicity (0.7 %). Regarding current living arrangements, 92 % of mothers indicated that their child in the study lived in their home full time, whereas 6.6 % reported that their child spent most of the time in their home (i.e., they had primary custody), and 1.5 % reported that their child spent only half of his or her time in their home. Regarding their relationship with the child’s biological father, most mothers (75.9 %) indicated that they were married, 15.3 % were divorced, 2.2 % were separated, 5.1 % were never married, and 1.5 % were widowed. Biological fathers ranged in age from 30 to 62 (M = 42.90, SD = 5.70). They selfidentified as White/Caucasian (67.9 %), Hispanic (15.6 %), Asian (7.3 %), AfricanAmerican 7.3 %), and other ethnicity (1.8 %). Most fathers (94.5 %) indicated that their child lived in their home full time, whereas 1.8 % reported that their child spent most of the time in their home, 2.8 % reported that their child spent only half of the time in their home, and one father (0.9 %) reported his child lives in his home less than half of the time (i.e., some custody or visitation rights). Regarding their relationship status with the child’s biological mother, most fathers (90.8 %) indicated that they were married, 7.3 % were divorced, one father (0.9 %) was never married, and one father (0.9 %) was widowed. Notably, the sample included a total of 98 children with complete data from both their biological mother and father. Of these families, 93 lived together in the same house. The remaining five families consisted of parents who were divorced or never married; these parents reported varying custody arrangements in which both parents had at least some custody of the child. Specifically, four children split time relatively equally between their mothers and fathers, and one child lived with her mother ‘‘most of the time’’ and her father ‘‘less than half of the time.’’ 2.2 Procedures 2.2.1 Recruitment of Participants In the spring of 2011, all 531 students in grades 4 and 5 at the two participating elementary schools (both in the same suburb of a large city in the southeastern United States) were invited to take part in the study. Research assistants read aloud a short description of the study, then asked each child to bring home (and return) documents that described (1) the purposes of the study, (2) data collection procedures, and (3) the confidential and voluntary nature of participation, as well as indicated a place for parents to sign to indicate permission for their children and themselves to participate. To encourage participation, children who returned signed parent consent forms received a small gift, such as a gel pen. Parents who participated by returning completed survey packets were entered into one of several drawings for gift cards to a local store. Data were gathered from 152 families (i.e., a child and at least one parent/caregiver), yielding a 28.6 % participation rate. This relatively low response rate should be considered in the context of the fact that student participation also required active participation by parents. Four families were omitted from analyses because neither the participating mother nor father was a biological parent, leaving a final sample of 148 families. 2.2.2 Data Collection Survey data were collected in-person from children and remotely from their parents. Specifically, each child was given a packet to deliver to his or her parents that included the

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following: a cover letter that outlined the study purpose, incentives for participation, and instructions for family participation; consent forms; two sets of measures (described below) to be completed by a father and/or mother; and two sealable envelopes in which parents were instructed to place their completed measures. The letter instructed parents to return sealed envelopes and signed consent forms to their child’s classroom teacher within 2 weeks. Consent forms and parent measures were assigned code numbers prior to distribution. Within 1 month of the initial distribution of consent forms and parent measures, selfreport surveys were administered to children who had both signed parent consent to participate and complete data from at least one parent. Child data collection took place during school hours in locations that were private and free from distraction. Child survey packets were assigned code numbers that linked to their parents’ completed surveys. Working with groups of 15–20 children, a member of the research team read the assent form aloud, secured written assent, then administered a brief demographic form. Next, two example survey questions were read aloud to model the various types of response metrics and to train children how to answer the Likert-style questions. Children then completed the three measures described below at their own pace (most finished the packet within 10 min). After data collection, students received an additional gel pen and were placed into multiple drawings for pairs of movie tickets to a local theater. 2.3 Measures 2.3.1 Gratitude Questionnaire (GQ-6; McCullough et al. 2002) Both parents and children completed the GQ-6. This instrument is designed to measure gratitude as a dispositional trait and assesses four facets of trait gratitude: intensity, frequency, density, and span of gratitude felt and shared. Participants respond to six items (e.g., I am grateful to a wide variety of people; When I look at the world, I don’t see much to be grateful for) using a 7-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). After reverse-scoring the two negatively worded items, mean scores were analyzed. Consistent with prior research (see Froh et al. 2011a, b), children completed a slightly modified version of the GQ-6 that used more developmentally-appropriate wording (e.g., ‘‘thankful’’ instead of ‘‘grateful’’). Research has provided adequate support for reliability and validity in samples of adults. Estimates of internal consistency range from 0.82 to 0.87 (McCullough et al. 2002). Test–retest reliability over a 3 month interval is 0.59 (Wood et al. 2008). Regarding validity, McCullough et al. (2002) found that the GQ-6 correlated positively (r = 0.30–0.50) with other indicators of wellness such as life satisfaction, hope, and vitality. Discriminant validity was evidenced by weaker correlations with measures of depression and stress (McCullough et al. 2002; Wood et al. 2008). In the current study, coefficient alpha for the GQ-6 was 0.62 for mothers and 0.69 for fathers. Although the GQ-6 was developed with adults, it has increasingly been used with youth. Recent research examined the psychometric properties of the GQ-6 in 1,405 middle school and high school students (Froh et al. 2011b). Regarding convergent validity, in that study the GQ-6 evidenced significant, mostly strong correlations with the Gratitude Adjective Checklist (GAC; McCullough et al. 2002) and the Gratitude Resentment and Appreciation Test (GRAT-short form; Thomas and Watkins 2003) among 10–14 year-olds (r = 0.22–0.64) and 15–19 year-olds (r = 0.42–0.70). Moderate correlations were yielded between the GQ-6 and other indicators of wellness, specifically life satisfaction and

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positive affect. Discriminant validity was supported by moderate, negative correlations between the GQ-6 and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale for Children (CES-DC; Weissman et al. 1980). Froh et al. concluded that the GQ-6 was a more psychometrically sound measure for use with ages 10–13 when compared with the GRATshort form or the GAC. Froh et al.’s 2011a, b examination of the GQ-6 factor structure indicated one item (Item 6: Long amounts of time can go by before I feel grateful to something or someone) may be too abstract for youth to comprehend. This item was removed from their analyses, and internal consistency for the 5-item version of the GQ-6 was satisfactory (a [ 0.70) across all age groups. Of note, Item 6 was also dropped from analyses due to poor item fit in a study with Taiwanese students (Chen et al. 2009). Because published studies of the GQ-6 with elementary school children were not located, an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted using data from the current sample of 148 children. The scree plot from the EFA (principal components with oblique rotation) suggested a one-factor solution. The first factor had an eigenvalue of 1.57, while the next largest eigenvalue was 0.22. All items loaded adequately on this single factor; factor loadings ranged from 0.41 (Item 6) to 0.61 (Item 2). The internal consistency of the 6-item GQ-6 was adequate (a = 0.630) and did not change much when Item 6 was removed (a = 0.636 for a 5-item version). In sum, the EFA supported the original 1-factor solution in which all six original items are satisfactory indicators of the construct. 2.3.2 Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS; Diener et al. 1985) To measure global life satisfaction in adults, the widely-used SWLS was administered to parents. Adults were instructed to respond to each of the 5 items (e.g., The conditions of my life are excellent) using a Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). Mean scores were analyzed, with higher scores indicating greater global life satisfaction. Diener et al. (1985) reported support for convergent validity via significant associations between SWLS scores and other measures of subjective well-being, such as the Life Satisfaction Index-Adults (r = 0.46; Neugarten et al. 1961) and the Life-3 Delighted-Terrible scale (r = 0.56; Andrews and Withey 1976). Regarding reliability, test–retest correlation coefficients over a one to two-month period range from 0.80 to 0.84 (Diener et al. 1985; Steger et al. 2006). Internal consistency is supported by alpha coefficients that are consistently above 0.80 (Pavot and Diener 1993). In the current study, a = 0.82 for fathers and mothers. 2.3.3 Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (SLSS; Huebner 1991) The SLSS is a frequently used measure of children’s global life satisfaction. Children respond to 7 items (e.g., I have a good life) using a 4-point Likert scale from 1 (never) to 4 (always). After reverse-scoring two items, higher mean scores represent greater life satisfaction. Huebner (1991) reported strong internal consistency (a = 0.84) with 254 children in grades 3–8. In a separate sample of 183 children in 3rd–5th grades, a = 0.73 (Terry and Huebner 1995). With children ages 7–14, test–retest correlations were 0.74 after a 2-week interval and 0.64 after 4 weeks (Huebner 1991). Support for convergent validity is provided by strong correlations with parents’ reports of their children’s life satisfaction (r = 0.54; Gilman and Huebner 1997). Also, Huebner (1991) found strong associations between SLSS scores and other self-report measures of youth life satisfaction, namely the Perceived Life Satisfaction Scale (Adelman et al. 1989;

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r = 0.58) and the Happiness subscale from the Piers-Harris Self Concept assessment (Piers and Harris 1969; r = 0.53). SLSS scores have been distinguished from the constructs of positive and negative affect (Huebner and Dew 1993). In the current study, a = 0.79 for the SLSS total score. 2.3.4 Adult Hope Scale (AHS; Snyder et al. 1991) The AHS was used to measure parents’ hope because it reflects the conceptual framework of dispositional nature of hope, or hope as a trait. The AHS, modeled after Snyder’s hope theory of pathway and agency motivation, contains four items that measure pathway thinking (e.g., I can think of many ways to get out of a jam) and four items that tap agency motivation (e.g., I energetically pursue my goals); four additional items are distracters. Participants rate each item from 1 (definitely false) to 4 (definitely true). In the current study, a mean score on the eight pathways and agency items formed a total hope score. The reliability of the AHS is supported by good internal consistency (a = 0.74–0.84) and test–retest reliability coefficients (r = 0.73–0.85) after intervals of 3 to 10 weeks (Snyder et al. 1991). Factor analysis supports the two-factor structure; agency and pathway were moderately correlated but upheld as unique factors (Snyder et al. 1991). Convergent validity is supported by the strong correlation (r = 0.60) with the Life Orientation Scale (Scheier and Carver 1985), which assesses dispositional optimism (Gibb 1990). In the current study, coefficient alpha for the total hope scale was 0.89 for mothers and 0.83 for fathers. 2.3.5 Children’s Hope Scale (CHS; Snyder et al. 1997) The CHS was administered to children because of its readability (appropriate for ages 7–15) and reflection of the hope-trait theory. The CHQ measures goal oriented thinking, and like the adult version taps both pathway (3 items; e.g., When I have a problem, I can come up with lots of ways to solve it) and agency (3 items; e.g., I am doing just as well as other kids my age). The Likert-style response options range from 1 (none of the time) to 6 (all of the time). A total hope composite score is obtained by summing all items and dividing by six. Regarding reliability, Snyder et al. (1997) reported adequate internal consistency (a = 0.72–0.86) in their original validation study with children ages 8–16 as well as high test–retest reliability after one week (r = 0.73) and 1 month (r = 0.71) intervals. In summarizing the extensive validation research of the CHS since 1997, Snyder (2006) noted the measure had been used with over 2,263 children and continued to demonstrate strong concurrent, discriminant, and predictive validity. Specifically, the CHS has yielded inverse and significant correlations (r = -0.27 to -0.48) with depression (as measured by the Child Depression Inventory; Kovacs 1985) and hopelessness (Hopelessness Scale; Kazdin et al. 1986). In the current study, a = 0.81 for the total hope composite. 2.3.6 Demographic Inventory All child and adult participants completed a brief demographic form that requested information about their age, gender, and ethnicity. Adults also reported their marital status, family structure, and specific relation to the participating child (i.e., biological parent, adoptive parent, stepparent, grandparent, or other caregiver). Children also reported their grade level and who they lived with at home.

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2.4 Overview of Analysis Plan Pearson correlations were calculated to determine the magnitude and direction of the associations between parents’ levels of gratitude, life satisfaction, and hope and their children’s levels of these constructs. The alpha level was set at 0.05 to indicate statistical significance. The magnitude of correlation coefficients was interpreted in line with Cohen’s (1988) guidelines for small (r = 0.10), medium (r = 0.30), and large (r = 0.50) effect sizes. To maximize available data (the dataset consisted of more biological mother–child dyads [n = 137] than biological father-child dyads [n = 109]), correlations were run between all pairs of mothers and children, then all pairs of fathers and children. Thus, the sample size for mother–child correlations differs from the sample size for father-child correlations. In order to permit comparisons of the size of correlations between children’s and their parents’ levels of a specific positive emotion (e.g., mother–child life satisfaction association compared to father-child life satisfaction association), some follow-up correlations were conducted on a reduced dataset that included only the 98 children with complete data from both biological parents. The research team experimented with defining this dataset as either those children who shared 100 % environment with their biological parents (n = 93) as well as those children who shared at least 50 % environment with their biological parents (n = 97). The magnitude and direction of the relationships between variables of interest were similar regardless of how the dataset was defined; however, due to the reduction in sample sizes when the two aforementioned datasets were used, some of the correlations were no longer statistically significant. Thus, to maximize power, findings from the largest possible dataset of triads (n = 98) are subsequently reported.

3 Results 3.1 Descriptive Statistics Table 1 displays the means, standard deviations, skew, and kurtosis values for the composite scores from each measure. Scores on the SWLS, SLSS, the student GQ-6, and the CHS have an approximate normal distribution (i.e., skew and kurtosis values \±1). While parent GQ-6 composites and the mother AHS composite were slightly non-normal, Kline (2010) asserts that skew and kurtosis values smaller than 3 and 10, respectively, are within acceptable limits. 3.2 Correlations Between Parents’ and Their Children’s Levels of the Same Positive Emotions 3.2.1 Gratitude As shown in Table 2, mothers’ gratitude yielded a small, significant correlation with their children’s gratitude (r = 0.23). As shown in Table 3, fathers’ gratitude was not related to their children’s gratitude (r = 0.07, ns). 3.2.2 Life Satisfaction As shown in Tables 2 and 3, children’s life satisfaction was significantly correlated, in a positive direction, with the life satisfaction of their mothers (r = 0.26) and fathers (r = 0.29). The magnitude of the relationships was small to moderate.

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Table 1 Descriptive statistics for all continuous variables analyzed Variable

N

M

SD

Skew

Kurtosis

SWLS Mothers

137

5.72

.90

-0.87

0.48

Fathers

109

5.66

.89

-0.69

-0.04

148

3.30

.50

-0.87

0.66 2.72

SLSS GQ-6 Mothers

137

6.41

.60

-1.45

Fathers

109

6.23

.66

-1.26

1.69

Child

148

5.91

.77

-0.59

-0.10

Mothers

137

6.72

.87

-1.22

2.23

Fathers

109

6.93

.70

-0.22

-0.75

148

4.66

.88

-0.61

-0.24

AHS

CHS

SWLS Satisfaction with Life Scale, SLSS Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale, GQ-6 Gratitude Questionnaire-6, AHS Adult Hope Scale, CHS Children’s Hope Scale

Table 2 Correlations between mothers’ and children’s levels of positive emotions (N = 137 dyads) 1 1. Child gratitude

2

3

4

5

1.00

2. Mother gratitude

.23**

3. Child life satisfaction

.53***

1.00 .18*

4. Mother life satisfaction

.18*

.52***

.26**

5. Child hope

.52***

.11

.62***

.24**

1.00

6. Mother hope

.06

.36***

.09

.41***

.08

1.00 1.00

* p \ .05, ** p \ .01, *** p \ .001

Table 3 Correlations between fathers’ and children’s levels of positive emotions (N = 109 dyads) 1

2

3

4

5

1. Child gratitude

1.00

2. Father gratitude

.07

1.00

3. Child life satisfaction

.56***

-.04

4. Father life satisfaction

.22*

.49***

.29**

5. Child hope

.62***

.02

.69***

.19*

6. Father hope

.09

.41***

.16

.56***

1.00 1.00 1.00 .03

*p \ .05, ** p \ .01, *** p \ .001

Table 4 presents correlations obtained using the reduced dataset that contained all mother, father, and child triads. In this subsample, mothers’ life satisfaction evidenced a positive association with children’s life satisfaction, but the statistical significance of the correlation was borderline (r = 0.19, p = .058). Fathers’ life satisfaction was still

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Table 4 Correlations between mothers, fathers, and children’s positive emotions within families with complete data (N = 98 triads) 1 1. Child gratitude

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

1.00

2. Mother gratitude

.21*

3. Father gratitude

.09

1.00 .31**

1.00

4. Child life sat.

.56***

.13

-.02

5. Mother life sat.

.24*

.54***

.20

.19

6. Father life sat.

.23*

.13

.49***

.32**

.38***

7. Child hope

.61***

.08

.03

.69***

.22*

.22*

8. Mother hope

.10

.36***

.08

.03

.41***

.14

.13

1.00

9. Father hope

.14

.14

.42***

.20*

.11

.58***

.10

.10

1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00

Sat Satisfaction * p \ .05, ** p \ .01, ***p \ .001

significantly related to higher child life satisfaction (r = 0.32). The size of this relationship is considered moderate. Fisher r-to-z transformation for two independent samples was used to assess the significance of the difference in the strength of these two correlation coefficients. The resulting z-value of -0.96 was not statistically significant (p = .34), indicating that the size of the correlations between parent and child life satisfaction was statistically similar for mothers and fathers in the current sample of families. 3.2.3 Hope As shown in Tables 2 and 3, children’s hope was not related to the hope level of their mothers (r = 0.08, ns) or fathers (r = 0.03, ns). The correlation coefficients did not approach statistical significance, regardless of the dataset analyzed. 3.3 Other Relationships Between Parents’ and Children’s Positive Emotions As shown in Table 2, mothers’ gratitude was correlated in a positive direction with their children’s life satisfaction (r = 0.18) but not related to their children’s hope. Mothers’ life satisfaction was significantly correlated in a positive direction with their children’s gratitude (r = 0.18) and hope (r = 0.24). Mothers’ hope levels were not related to their children’s gratitude or life satisfaction. As shown in Table 3, fathers’ gratitude was not related to their children’s life satisfaction or hope. Fathers’ life satisfaction was significantly correlated in a positive direction with their children’s gratitude (r = 0.22) and hope (r = 0.19). Fathers’ hope levels were not related to their children’s gratitude or life satisfaction.

4 Discussion The current study explored links between parents’ levels of wellness (as indicated by positive emotions) and their children’s levels. Gratitude, life satisfaction, and hope were selected based on Seligman’s (2002) framework, which suggests that total wellness can be achieved by maintaining positive levels of emotions in the past (e.g., gratitude), present

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(e.g., life satisfaction), and future (e.g., hope). Results indicated a small but statistically significant relationship between maternal gratitude and child gratitude but no link between fathers’ gratitude and their children’s gratitude. Results also demonstrated a consistent link between children’s life satisfaction and their parents’ life satisfaction. Although paternal life satisfaction appeared to have a somewhat greater association with child life satisfaction (r = 0.29–0.32) compared to mother–child life satisfaction (r = 0.19–0.26), this difference in magnitudes was not statistically significant. Parents’ hope was not associated with children’s hope. Life satisfaction was the only parent positive emotion to yield a relationship with children’s hope. 4.1 Links Between Parent Gratitude and Child Gratitude Ours is the first study of which we are aware to investigate the link between parent and child gratitude. Previous research by Steger et al. (2007) of fraternal twins indicated a small correlation (r = 0.18), which is similar to the correlation obtained in the current study for mothers’ and their children’s gratitude (r = 0.23). In contrast, the association between father and child gratitude was not significant. Interestingly, maternal (but not paternal) gratitude also emerged as a significant correlate of child life satisfaction. One hypothesis to be tested is that mothers with higher gratitude promote appreciation and a sense of satisfaction with one’s own circumstances among their children. Further research is needed to understand the possible reasons why the identified differences emerged between mother–child and father-child gratitude relationships. Biological contributions include the possibility of sex-linked inheritance patterns. Regarding environmental factors, it may be that children spend more time with their mothers, creating more opportunities to observe their mothers’ patterns of gratitude. Previous research by Greif and Gleason (1980) has shown that politeness patterns, or outward indications of inward gratitude, increase following parental modeling. Because patterns of childcare responsibilities in the U.S. tend to result in most children spending more time with their mothers than their fathers (Bianchi et al. 2006), children may be more likely to adopt patterns of gratitude that are more similar to their mothers than their fathers simply because of greater exposure to maternal modeling of gratitude. This hypothesis may be tested in future studies that verify the amount of time children spend with each parent. Another environmental explanation to be explored is that fathers may be less overt in their demonstrations of gratitude than are mothers. In other words, male gratitude may have less of an influence on children because it is more discrete. This hypothesis is supported by research showing that although men and women experience similar levels of positive emotions (Seligman 2002), men over age 35 tend to conceal expressions of gratitude (Sommers and Kosmitzki 1988). Recent research on gender differences in gratitude (Kashdan et al. 2009) found that men show outward expressions of gratitude less often than women, and women both recognize and express gratitude in more explicit ways than men. Given such gender differences, it may be that children are less similar to their fathers than their mothers in gratitude because they are less aware of their fathers’ actual levels of gratitude, making it less likely that they will imitate what they see. 4.2 Links Between Parent Life Satisfaction and Child Life Satisfaction In contrast to gratitude, both mothers’ and fathers’ life satisfaction levels were significantly correlated with their children’s life satisfaction. As such, parents with high life satisfaction

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tended to have children with relatively high life satisfaction. These findings are consistent with the previous literature on subjective well-being. For example, Lykken (1999) reported a modest correlation (r = 0.20) between parents’ and their seventeen year-old children’s happiness. The children in our study were younger (ages 9–12), and Lykken used a measure of positive affect rather than life satisfaction, but overall findings were quite similar in regard to the small but significant correlation between parents’ and children’s positive emotions focused on the present. Our findings also parallel those of Casas et al. (2008), who found a correlation of r = 0.19 between 139 matched/triad sets (mother, father, and child) on the Personal Well-Being Index (another measure of subjective wellbeing). Similarly, findings from children in the current sample are consistent with results obtained by Ben-Zur (2003), which indicated a correlation of r = 0.34 for father-child life satisfaction and r = 0.25 for mother–child life satisfaction. The findings of the current study extend previous work in this area by showing that parent–child correlations in life satisfaction among children in late elementary school (grades 4–5) are similar to those of youth in later adolescence. The consistency of results is in line with Lyubomirsky et al.’s (2005) notion that subjective well-being is in part heritable.

4.3 Links Between Parent Hope and Child Hope The one area of positive emotions that did not evidence significant familial links in the current study was hope. Previous research on relationships between child and parent hope has been mixed. Our findings are consistent with the null results reported by Westburg and Martin (2003), a study that used the same measures of hope as in the current study (i.e., the AHS and CHS) in 46 children (ages 8–15) and their mother or father. Our sample size was considerably larger than that of Westburg and Martin, but our results were quite similar. On the other hand, a study with a larger sample (256 children and their guardians) found a moderate parent–child correlation for guardian-child levels of hope (Marques et al. 2007). Although it is unclear why the findings of Marques et al. are so different, that study was conducted in Spain (suggesting possible cultural factors related to the difference in findings) and included older youth (suggesting possible developmental differences). Our null findings for the relationship between parent and child hope also seem to suggest that hope is not a quality that children inherit or develop through imitation of parents’ expressed hope. Other findings in the current study suggest, however, that the development of hope in children may be influenced by other positive emotions, particularly parent life satisfaction. The unanticipated finding that maternal life satisfaction and paternal life satisfaction were significant correlates of child hope suggests that children who have parents who are satisfied with their lives also have a more positive future outlook. Since the design of the current study is unique in its inclusion of multiple positive emotions, we are unable to compare these findings with similar studies. We offer that given children’s limited experience in life, they may be more likely to hold positive feelings about the future if they see their parents satisfied with life in the present (i.e., high life satisfaction) than if parents believe that things will get better one day (i.e., high hope). In other words, children’s feelings about the future may be more influenced by what they see in the present (which they assume will continue) than what adults tell them is possible at some later point in time. Additional research is needed to test this notion and identify other mechanisms responsible for the relationships identified in the current study.

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4.4 Limitations of the Study Conclusions from this study are limited by three primary issues: (1) generalizability of the findings to other populations of children and families; (2) the sole reliance on self-report measures; and (3) inability to determine why the identified links between parents’ and children’s positive emotions exist. First, because participants were limited to a convenience sample of children in one American suburban community, the extent to which the findings would generalize to lower socioeconomic, urban, or rural populations is unknown. Regarding the study’s design, Lucas et al. (2009) argued that individuals are usually the most accurate reporters of their emotions but also note that self-report can be subject to social desirability and haphazard responding. The current study’s limited access to the caregiver participants precluded supplementation of self-report information with other indicators. Also with regard to the measures, the relatively low coefficient alphas (0.62–0.69) for the GQ-6 could have contributed to the lower correlations observed pertinent to gratitude. Finally, it is unknown if the identified relationships between parent and child wellness emerged due to heritability (i.e., a true genetic link), shared environment, or some combination or interaction of the two. Developmental psychologists and behavioral geneticists often use expansive twin, adoption, or molecular studies to differentiate the effects of heritability and the environment. These methods provide researchers with data that may suggest causation in either direction (heritability or environment). Given the paucity of research on the relationship between parent and child levels of positive emotions, the current study used exploratory methods, specifically correlational research. This design indicates the direction and strength of the relationships between parent and child wellness and lays a foundation for future studies that may attempt to disentangle the causes of the small but significant relationships that this study has identified. 4.5 Future Directions for Research To address some of the aforementioned limitations, research is needed that focuses on why the links identified in this study exist. It is important to identify how wellness (as indicated by positive emotions) is transmitted between parents and children. As previously mentioned, one option involves concordance studies with both MZ and DZ twins, as well as examinations of youth reared apart from their biological parents (i.e., adoption studies). Research with participants who share varying levels of environment and genetic material would facilitate understanding of the impact of nature and nurture, although conclusions are limited given that phenotypic discordance among MZ twins is confounded by epigenetic and environmental factors (Haque et al. 2009). Another strategy for evaluating environmental contributions to children’s well-being involves systematically increasing a family member’s positive emotion and monitoring for changes in other family members’ positive emotions as a function of the target’s level of response. For example, future research could evaluate the extent to which interventions to increase mothers’ gratitude (for a critical review of intervention options, see Wood et al. 2010) affect their children’s gratitude levels. Second, rather than parent emotions predicting their children’s emotions in a unidirectional manner, the relationship may be reciprocal, such that parents and children influence each other’s positive emotions. This idea has been explored within the psychopathology literature, wherein children’s negative symptoms and behaviors appear to impact their parents’ behavior and emotions. For example, research conducted on mother– child interactions among children with ADHD found that mothers of children with ADHD engaged in warmer interactions with their children when the children were medicated (and

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demonstrated less non-compliant behaviors) than when they were not medicated (Barkley and Cunningham 1979). Similarly, Lifford et al.’s (2008) longitudinal study found that negative child behaviors were linked with higher maternal rejection and worse parent– child relationships. Taken together, these studies support the need for additional research to determine how parents and children may influence each other’s positive emotions. A third valuable avenue of research involves investigating factors that may mediate relationships between parent positive emotions and their children’s positive emotions. Possible mediators include parenting practices, interparental conflict, warmth, and enhanced social relationships. For example, parents with greater life satisfaction may experience less interparental conflict, which could in turn positively influence children’s life satisfaction levels. Finally, exploration of why mothers’ (vs. fathers’) levels of some positive emotions are more closely related to their children’s positive emotions is needed. Hypothesized contributing factors such as sex-linked inheritance patterns, mothers’ time spent with children, or overt demonstrations of affect remain to be confirmed or disconfirmed through additional research. 4.6 Contributions to the Positive Psychology Literature This study provides an application of the ‘‘triad of positive emotions’’ posited by Seligman (2002) and supported by Miller and Nickerson (2007). The triad framework suggests that total wellness can be achieved when positive emotions in the past, present, and future are targeted. The current study used this framework with children and their parents and found a number of small but significant relationships between parents’ and their children’s levels of the same positive emotions, as well as links between parents’ and their children’s levels of some different positive emotions. These findings are important in that they provide a rationale for future research focused on investigating the causes of the identified relationships. Also notably, this study is the first of its kind to study multiple positive emotions among parents and their children. More specifically, it is the first to simultaneously compare scores from the SWLS with the SLSS, the GQ-6 with the GQ-6 youth version, and the AHS with the CHS. Results suggest that parents’ positive emotions are reliable correlates of child positive emotions. This is particularly true for parental life satisfaction and maternal gratitude and life satisfaction. Third, this study adds to the literature on positive emotions among elementary aged youth. The preponderance of prior relevant research focused on adults and older adolescents. The current study extends the previous findings on the small but significant relationship between parent life satisfaction and child life satisfaction (e.g., Lykken 1999) down to children as young as ages 9–12. The consistently modest magnitude of the association between young children and parents’ life satisfaction calls into question the applicability of Lyubomirsky et al.’s 2005 model of determinants of well-being to children; among youth, the biological set point may not account for as much of the variance in subjective well-being as behavioral and environmental factors. In closing, this correlational study shed light on familial associations in positive emotions by determining the existence and strength of the relations between parents’ and children’s hope, gratitude, and life satisfaction. Maternal gratitude and parent life satisfaction demonstrated small to moderate relationships with children’s levels of the same emotions, in line with expectations for genetic contributions to individual differences in positive emotions (Lyubomirsky et al. 2005). In contrast, parent–child hope levels were not

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linked. Future research is needed to understand why the identified relationships emerged, including disentangling the causal roles of heritable and environmental factors.

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