The relationship between negative parenting styles and suicidal ideation among Chinese junior middle school students: The roles of negative emotions and hope

Abstract

Suicidal ideation is a prominent public health problem among junior middle school students. Previous researchers have explored the influence of parenting style on adolescents' suicidal ideation, but few researchers distinguished the influence of positive and negative parenting styles. The mediating effect of negative emotions between negative parenting styles and suicidal ideation and the moderating effect of hope among Chinese junior middle school students were focused on in this study. 877 junior middle school students in Hunan, Anhui, and Jiangxi provinces in China were investigated with the simplified Parenting Style Questionnaire, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, Children's Hope Scale, and Self‐rating Idea of Suicide Scale. The theoretical models were tested through the PROCESS macro for SPSS. The results showed that: (1) Negative parenting styles had positive effects on suicidal ideation. (2) Negative emotions mediated the relationship between negative parenting styles and suicidal ideation. (3) Hope moderated the relationship between negative emotions and suicidal ideation. This study implies that we could start by improving adolescents' negative parenting styles and raising their level of hope to prevent and intervene in adolescents' suicidal ideation.

A Psychometric Examination of the Abbreviated Version of the Parenting Styles Scale Using a Sample of Chilean Adolescents

“…Positive parenting styles, i.e., interactions that are beneficial for children, influence emotion regulation abilities [ 7 ] and life satisfaction in adolescents, decreasing, for example, externalizing behaviours [ 6 ], which are associated with the authoritative parenting style. Parenting styles of a negative nature are linked to difficulties in different areas of children’s lives, such as problematic internet use [ 9 , 10 ] and suicidal thoughts in adolescence [ 11 , 12 ], which are associated with a neglectful parenting style. Therefore, it is necessary to work with parents or adults who raise and educate adolescents [ 13 ], for which it is essential to have valid and reliable scales in the adolescent population in order to make evaluations for research and intervention.…”