The Parent-Child Relationship and Child Shame and Guilt: A Meta-Analytic Systematic Review

Empirical findings on the associations of positive and dysfunctional parent-child relationship (PPCR/DPCR) characteristics with child shame, adaptive guilt, and maladaptive guilt were synthesized in six meta-analyses. The 60 included samples yielded 593 effect sizes (Ntotal = 17,852; Mage = 14.87 years; 58.7% female; 65% US samples, n = 11,867 with 65.6% White, 12.4% Hispanic and Latinx, 10.8% Black, 6.8% mixed-race, 2.7% Asian American, 0.3% Native American participants). Small positive correlations were found between DPCR and shame (r = .17), DPCR and maladaptive guilt (r = .15), and PPCR and adaptive guilt (r = .14). A small negative correlation was found between PPCR and shame (r = -.11). Sample and study moderators and sources of bias are investigated and discussed.