SAN DIEGO (USA TODAY) -- Men who say they had a good relationship with their father while growing up react less to day-to-day stress as adults than those whose relationship with their dad was poor, new research suggests.

The study was among those on parents and kids presented at the four-day annual meeting here of the American Psychological Association, which ended Sunday.

Participants included 912 men and women ages 25-74 who were interviewed by phone each day for eight days. They were asked about psychological and emotional distress and if they had experienced stressful events that day, such as arguments, disagreements or tensions at work or home.

"Fathers and sons seem to have a unique way of interacting that cuts across time and has lasting effects," says co-author Melanie Mallers, an assistant professor of psychology at California State University-Fullerton.

Among other research:

*An adult child with problems has a negative impact on a parent's mental health, even if the family's other kids are successful, finds a study of 633 parents and 1,251 adult children.

"If you think your kid is a problem, it's going to make you unhappy," says co-author Kira Birditt, a research assistant professor at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.

Having even one child with physical, emotional, lifestyle or behavioral problems negatively affected parents' mental health, the study found.

*Adolescents underestimate the degree to which their peers are bullied, according to an online study of 1,454 young people ages 12-17, by researchers at the University of California-Los Angeles.

At least one incident of school bullying was reported by 77%; 72% reported having been bullied online. But when asked how much their peers may have had similar experiences, just 61% thought peers were bullied in school, 50% online.

The term "bullying" was not used; students were asked how frequently "mean things" happened to them in the past year. "Mean things" was defined as "anything someone does that upsets or offends someone else" and included insults, threats or sharing embarrassing photos.

"It may be the case that cyberbullying is especially painful for youth if they think 'I'm experiencing this alone. It isn't happening to any of my peers. Why just me?' " says co-author Guadalupe Espinoza, who worked with other co-authors, including Jaana Juvonen, a UCLA professor of developmental psychology who has conducted past research on bullying.

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