The Association Between Family Function and Adolescents' Depressive Symptoms in China: A Longitudinal Cross-Lagged Analysis

Abstract

The complex interrelationships between family function and adolescents' depressive symptoms are not yet fully clarified, especially in China. Based on the family systems theory, this study explored the relationships between family function and Chinese adolescents' depressive symptoms by a 3-year longitudinal study design. Three waves of data were collected from 1,301 Chinese middle school students in Grade 7 to Grade 9. All participants completed the Chinese Family Assessment Instrument (CFAI) and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) once a year during the junior middle school period. Our results showed that both family function and adolescent depressive symptoms were stable in Grade 7 and Grade 8, but in Grade 9, family function increased and depressive symptoms declined. Furthermore, we found that the family function in Grade 7 negatively influenced depressive symptoms of adolescents in Grade 8, while adolescent depressive symptoms in Grade 8 negatively impacted subsequent family function in Grade 9, namely there was a circular effect between family function and adolescent depressive symptoms. These findings suggest that the associations between family function and adolescents' depressive symptoms are dynamic and time-dependent. Our study contributes to the intervention aimed at the reduction of adolescent depressive symptoms from the family perspective.

The association between family adaptability and adolescent depression: the chain mediating role of social support and self-efficacy

“…The findings suggest that family adaptability predicts adolescent depression with an effect size of −0.251 ( Table 2 ). H1 was valid, which is consistent with the results of previous studies ( Wang et al, 2021 ). The predictive effect remained significant after the inclusion of mediating variables.…”

“…Consequently, the risk of developing depression is reduced ( Jia and Yuan, 2018 ). Wang Enna et al conducted a 3-year longitudinal follow-up of 1,301 Chinese students in grades 7–9 year, and the results showed that the association between family adaptability and adolescent depression was dynamic and time-dependent ( Wang et al, 2021 ). The correlations and regression analyses of family adaptability and adolescent depression have only been discussed in existing studies, and the mechanisms of the two have not been investigated, such as the study by Li et al (2021) There is a gap in the literature describing the mechanisms of family adaptability and depression, so the present study wanted to revalidate the relationship between the two and address the previous limitations.…”

Vicious circle of family dysfunction and adolescent internet addiction: Do only child and non-only child exhibit differences?

“…Although previous research using the Developmental Contextualism Theory has been centered on dynamic processes between individuals and contexts, our results show that dynamic processes can also be applicable to the field of Internet misconduct, thus occurring between FD and children' IA. This phenomenon has been suggested by several studies that showed a circular effect of family factors, such as family function (Wang et al, 2021a), and parent control (Wu et al, 2021), and it could also be extended to peer factors such as peer victimization (Guo et al, 2017) and adolescent problem behavior. The dynamic nature of family-adolescent relations was alarming in terms of IA.…”

“…For example, empirical evidence has supported that adolescents' family function has significant influences on adolescents' aggressive behavior, which in turn, subsequently influences their perceived family function in the later stages of development. Similar circular effects have also appeared in the relation between maternal psychological control and children's bullying/victimization (Wu et al), peer victimization and children's internalizing problems (Guo et al, 2017), as well as family function and adolescent depressive symptoms (Wang et al, 2021a). However, studies examine the reciprocal effects between adolescents' excessive usage of the Internet and their dysfunctional family are very limited.…”

Association of adverse childhood experiences and depression among medical students: the role of family functioning and insomnia

“…Therefore, medical students who live in well-functioning families may be at less risk of suffering from depression ( Nam et al, 2016 ). In the literature on depression, family functioning is a protective factor that has been found to reduce the likelihood of experiencing depression ( Guerrero-Muñoz et al, 2021 ; Wang et al, 2021 ).…”