The Impact of Academic Achievement and Parental Practices on Depressive Symptom Trajectories Among Chinese Adolescents

Abstract

Though depressive symptoms tend to increase in early adolescence, the trajectories of these symptoms may vary strongly. This longitudinal study investigated the extent to which the distinct developmental trajectories of depressive symptoms were predicted by adolescents' academic achievement and perceived parental practices in a sample of Chinese young adolescents (N = 2,576). The results showed four trajectory profiles of depressive symptoms: low-stable (75%), low-increasing (11%), high-stable (9%), and high-decreasing (5%). Adolescents with high academic achievement were more likely to be classified into the low-stable, low-increasing, and high-decreasing profiles than into the high-stable depressive symptom profile. Moreover, students who perceived greater parental autonomy support were more likely to be in the low-stable and low-increasing profiles than the high-stable profile, whereas adolescents perceiving more parental psychological control had higher odds of being in the low-increasing rather than the low-stable profile. Parental educational involvement was unrelated to students' depressive symptom trajectories. In sum, Chinese adolescents with higher academic achievement and who perceived more parental autonomy support, and less psychological control, were at lower risk of experiencing depressive symptoms.

Parental Involvement and Student Achievement: A Meta-analysis of Publications in the Scopus Database

“…This shows that there is a positive correlation between parental involvement and student achievement. This shows conformity with previous findings which concluded that parental involvement has a positive effect on achievement at various levels of education, such as kindergarten, elementary, junior high, high school, to adult education and university students (Aquino et al, 2019;Batič & Kac, 2020;Bazán-Ramírez et al, 2022;Cui et al, 2021;Krishnan & A, 2019;Qin et al, 2021;Xiang & Chiu, 2021). This means that the better the involvement of parents, the better the achievement of their children.…”

Prevalence and Contributing Factors of Childhood Trauma, Anxiety, and Depression Among Adolescents From Two-Child Families in China

“…The overall pooled prevalence of total mental disorders among children and adolescents aged 6-18 was estimated at 15.6% in China (7). In contemporary China, the rapid development of the social economy, heavy academic pressure and termination of the one-child policy have changed the traditional family structure and social support system (8). The mental health problems of adolescence, such as academic fatigue, anxiety, compulsion and depression are increasing year by year (9).…”

Family socioeconomic status and adolescent depression in urban and rural China: A trajectory analysis

“…In Korea, a study of 1432 adolescents identified three categories: high-increasing, moderate-increasing, and low-stable ( Song et al, 2020 ). Similarly, a study in China revealed four subgroups: stable-low, moderate, increasing, and early elevated but later decreasing symptoms ( Wu, 2017 ), with another study of 2576 Chinese adolescents identifying low-stable (75%), low-increasing (11%), high-stable (9%), and high-decreasing (5%) trajectories ( Qin et al, 2021 ). These studies suggest that adolescent depression is a complex phenomenon with various developmental trajectories.…”