Abstract
I investigated the effects of parental disengagement on risk-taking and mental illness. Using Qualtrics, college students (244 female, 73 male) wrote about an instance of parent engagement or disengagement. Participants then reported their generally risky attitudes and destructive intentions. Three-way ANCOVAs demonstrated a significant main effect for engagement prime. Parent disengagement was associated with more general risk, F(1,244)=4.55, p =.03, and destructive behaviors F(1,244)=13.15, p <.01, than parent engagement. Furthermore, there was a significant interaction effect of participant sex and disengagement F(1,244)=33.72, p =.03. For participants primed with disengagement, males scored higher than females on a measure of general risk. There was also a negative correlation between father engagement and mental illness r(308)=-.12, p.= .02. This suggests parental disengagement primes offspring to adopt riskier behavioral strategies, and that this effect is greater in males than females. Finally, my results suggest that risky behaviors has negative effects on offspring’s mental health.