Parental perception matters: Reciprocal relations between adolescents’ depressive symptoms and parental perceptions.

Abstract

A large body of research has shown that parents play a vital role in the development of adolescents' depression. However, previous research has overlooked the effects of a potentially critical factor, namely, parental perceptions, and beliefs about adolescents' depression. The present study examined whether parental perceptions of an adolescent's depressive symptoms predict longitudinal changes in adolescents' symptoms (i.e., the parental perception effect). The longitudinal relationship between adolescents' depressive symptoms and parental perceptions of the adolescents' symptoms was analyzed in three independent groups of parent-adolescent pairs (in total N = 1,228). Parental perception and monitoring effects were found in Studies 1B and 2 only in the depressive mood subscale. While a decreased enjoyment subscale showed a perception effect in Study 1A, we obtained null results from other studies. We synthesized the results by applying meta-analytic structural equation modeling to obtain a more robust estimate. The analysis qualified both perception and monitoring effects in both subscales. Our results suggest that when parents believe that their adolescent child is depressed, adolescents are cognitively biased by their parental perceptions over time, resulting in more severe depressive symptoms. Public Significance StatementThis series of three two-wave studies suggests that when parents perceive their adolescent children are depressed, these perceptions may be transmitted to adolescents over time, relating to an increased depressive mood. Our results suggest that parents should avoid worrying excessively about their children's mental health.

Transmission of Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction Between Parents and Adolescents: The Critical Role of Parental Perceptions

“…Similar to what Ohtani et al (2022) found, this pattern of findings could refer to a Pygmalion effect (Rosenthal & Jacobson, 1968) where adolescents were influenced by their parent's perceptions of their own need satisfaction. While studies investigating both parental perceptions and children or adolescent perceptions are rare, similar effects appear in the literature on adults' expectations of children and adolescents.…”

“…Assessing parents' perceptions of adolescents could provide important information to guide interventions and explain the maintenance of certain perceptions of autonomy, competence, and relatedness that underpin various negative emotional and behavioral outcomes in adolescents (Rodrı´guez-Meirinhos et al, 2021). Finally, as Ohtani et al (2022) suggested, parents could also be made aware of their influential power and use it to positively support their children.…”

“…However, studies examining other internal psychological concepts such as anxiety and depression and their clinical assessment show that parental perceptions of children can bring unique and valid insights. A study by Ohtani et al (2021) demonstrated that parental perceptions of adolescent depressive symptoms impacted adolescents' selfreported symptoms over time: greater parental reports subsequently led to greater self-reported depressive symptoms in adolescents. Therefore, understanding parents' perceptions of their children's BPNS could provide insight into their child's need satisfaction.…”

“…Although this effect was not explained by the parenting variables that the authors had included in the study, they suggested it could have been due to adolescents being vulnerable to what their parents believe about them, influencing their emotions and behaviors, or parents' own negative emotions when faced with their adolescent's perceived depression that could then have influenced their adolescent's emotional state. Alternatively, Ohtani et al (2022) mention the possibility that parents could have been able to detect their adolescents' symptoms before they were fully understood and reported by adolescents. In any case, parents offer a perspective we should pay more attention to.…”

Associations between parental attitudes towards mental illness and self-reported mental health among young people: Evidence from the Health Survey for England

“…A large body of work has explored the role of parents’ conditions and practices in their children’s mental healht and related service use. 16,17 Research on the specific contribution of parents’ stigmatising attitudes has been relatively small and focussed on children’s help-seeking practices. 18 One U.S. study found that boys aged 13-14 were less willing to seek mental health services if their parents disapproved of such services compared with girls.…”