Differential Associations Between Parents' Versus Children's Perceptions of Parental Socialization Goals and Chinese Adolescent Depressive Symptoms

Abstract

Although prior studies have demonstrated the associations between parental socialization goals and parenting practices, as well as parenting practices and adolescent depressive symptoms, respectively, research examining the comprehensive developmental pathways among these constructs (i. e., the path from parental socialization goals to parenting practices to adolescent depressive symptoms) is scarce, especially in the Chinese context. Grounded in the integrative model of parenting, this study investigated the associations between parental socialization goals and adolescent depressive symptoms by examining the indirect pathways through parents' autonomy support and psychological control as well as the moderating effect of educational stage. In Study 1, 345 Chinese adolescents and their primary caregivers completed a measure on parental socialization goals. Adolescents also reported on their depressive symptoms. Results showed that children who reported more self-development parental goals showed fewer depressive symptoms. However, parents' reports of goals or child-parent perceptual discrepancies were not related to children's depressive symptoms. Drawing on this finding, 424 middle school and 301 high school Chinese adolescents completed measures regarding parental socialization goals, autonomy support, psychological control, and their own depressive symptoms in Study 2. Results showed that parental autonomy support linked the associations of self-development and achievement-oriented parental goals and children's depressive symptoms among middle school students, whereas parental psychological control linked such associations among high school students. Our findings provide a more holistic view on how parents' socialization goals are related to children's depressive symptoms via their parenting practices. We also discussed the practical implications for the clinical work regarding adolescent depressive symptoms.

Determinants of mindful parenting: a cross-cultural examination of parent and child reports

“…This affords a more complete picture of the mindful parenting process in families, accounting for the subjectivity of experience (Boyce et al, 1998;Schaefer, 1965). Children's subjective experiences of parenting are robust predictors of child outcomes (Danese & Widom, 2020;Zhou et al, 2021), and identifying determinants of child-reported mindful parenting may improve our understanding. Second, a multi-informant approach may also increase the validity of the mindful parenting process model by minimising bias in self-report of parenting (Morsbach & Prinz, 2006;Schofield et al, 2016) and common-method variance where determinants are also parent-reported (Burk & Laursen, 2010).…”

Relationship Between Physical Activity, Parental Psychological Control, Basic Psychological Needs, Anxiety, and Mental Health in Chinese Engineering College Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Parental psychological control refers to parents’ attempts to interfere with their children’s mental and emotional development ( Zhou et al, 2021 ). In China, parental control has been determined to be negatively correlated with children’s mental health, which will destroy children’s sense of autonomy at the appropriate age, thus leading to the misbehavior of teenagers and damaging their mental health ( Zhou et al, 2017 ; Shek et al, 2019 ).…”

“…Parental control includes behavioral control and psychological control ( Barber, 1996 ). Studies have proved that parental behavioral control can promote the good development of children and adolescents, while psychological control is not conducive to their physical and mental health, and may inhibit their emotions ( Barber et al, 2005 ; Wang et al, 2007 ; Sheldon, 2011 ; Zhou et al, 2021 ). However, one study demonstrated that parental control was positively associated with children’s mental health in China when used occasionally ( Shek and Lee, 2007 ).…”

Mental Health Literacy: How to Obtain and Maintain Positive Mental Health

“…Parental psychological control refers to parents' attempts to interfere with their children's mental and emotional development (Zhou et al, 2021). In China, parental control has been determined to be negatively correlated with children's mental health, which will destroy children's sense of autonomy at the appropriate age, thus leading to the misbehavior of teenagers and damaging their mental health Shek et al, 2019).…”

“…Parental control includes behavioral control and psychological control (Barber, 1996). Studies have proved that parental behavioral control can promote the good development of children and adolescents, while psychological control is not conducive to their physical and mental health, and may inhibit their emotions (Barber et al, 2005;Sheldon, 2011;Zhou et al, 2021). However, one study demonstrated that parental control was positively associated with children's mental health in China when used occasionally (Shek and Lee, 2007).…”