Associations of Parenting Style and Resilience With Depression and Anxiety Symptoms in Chinese Middle School Students

Abstract

BackgroundParenting style and resilience are independently associated with symptoms of depression and anxiety. However, no study has tested the interaction effects between the patterns of parenting style and resilience on mental health in adolescent populations. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the interaction effects between the patterns of parenting style and resilience on depression/anxiety symptoms among middle school students in China.MethodsA sample of 2,179 Chinese middle school students were included in this study. Latent profile analysis (LPA) was used to examine parenting style patterns. Multivariable logistic regression was used to analyze the associations of different parenting patterns and resilience with depression/anxiety symptoms, as well as the interaction effect.ResultsLatent profile analysis results showed that the most suitable model included three-profile solution, which were labeled as positive parenting, negative parenting, and moderate parenting. Subsequent analyses indicated that students across profiles exhibited significant differences in their depression/anxiety symptoms. Specifically, compared to moderate parenting, negative parenting was positively associated with depression/anxiety symptoms, while positive parenting was negatively associated with these symptoms. Moreover, low levels of resilience were positively associated with depression/anxiety symptoms compared to a high level of resilience. Although the interaction effect was not significant, there were differences in the associations between different parenting patterns and symptoms of depression and anxiety when stratifying resilience.ConclusionThe present study identified three-profile solution of parenting styles among Chinese middle school students using LPA as a person-centered approach. Future interventions targeting depression/anxiety symptoms in adolescents may consider the potential influence of patterns of parenting styles, or improved resilience, to achieve better intervention outcomes.

Stress events and stress symptoms in Chinese secondary school students: gender and academic year characteristics of the relationship

“…The results of this study show that the symptoms of depression, sympathetic arousal, neurological, and cognitive disorganization in Chinese secondary school students are relatively obvious, which is basically consistent with the results of previous studies ( 22 , 35 , 36 ). Firstly, the depression symptoms in secondary school students are not depression in the clinical sense, but a kind of negative emotional experience characterized by persistent low mood.…”

“…The relationship is the direct psychological relationship after communication, and a good relationship is an important factor in maintaining the normal development of individual psychology. Some studies have shown that there is a significant negative correlation between relationship and social anxiety in secondary school students ( 22 ). Secondary school students will have a strong sense of loneliness when they feel isolated from others in the process of interpersonal communication.…”

Effects of parenting styles on social functioning impairments in Chinese children and adolescents with ADHD mediated by stressful life events

“…Speci cally, supportive parenting styles, such as emotional warmth and understanding, are found to reduce the impact of stressful life events and decrease social function impairment [33] . Non-supportive parenting styles in terms of parental rejection and denial, severe punishment, excessive interference and favoring increased the experience of stressful life events and social function impairment in children with ADHD [34,35] . Hence, the study's ndings support that stressful life events have a signi cant mediating effect between the different parenting styles and social function impairment, and we infer that the effect of parenting style on social function impairments is driven by the child's exposure to stressful life events.…”

“…While Chinese children are motivated by external rewards such as good grades, they have limited opportunity to establish real emotional connections with their parents [9,10] . Concerning empirical evidence, one study in Hefei [11] found no signi cant difference between positive, negative and moderate parenting styles on adolescents' mental resilience, which contributes to intact social functioning [12,13] . By contrast, another in-depth study on negative parenting styles in more economically advanced cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou) in China highlighted the negative effect of over-protection and rejection parenting styles on individuals' social adjustment [14] .…”

Resiliencia y educación: las fortalezas invisibles de los escolares durante el confinamiento

“…Para los niños y adolescentes en edad escolar, al parecer la resiliencia ha sido un factor importante contra los problemas de salud mental y otros estresores provocados por la pandemia (Cajigal et al, 2019;Huaire-Inacio et al, 2022;Qiu, Guo, Wang y Zhang, 2022;Way, 2022), quienes han desarrollado una serie de habilidades como: empatía, trabajo colaborativo, comunicaciones asertiva (Cadillo-Leiva et al, 2022), para adaptarse con normalidad a las nuevas condiciones, asistir a sus clases, 93 aprender y en definitiva, tener una vida más sana, viviendo en un contexto complejo.…”