Youth depression and perceived social support from parents: A meta-analysis of gender and stress-related differences.

Abstract

The current meta-analysis investigates the parental support-youth depression association and whether this association varies by gender and stress. Studies published from 1983 to February 2021 were gathered via electronic search in six databases and a hand search of 14 journals. Studies that measured support from parents and youth depression were included. Depression intervention studies and studies that measured constructs conceptually distinct from social support were excluded. Using a random-effects model, the overall effect size based on 170 studies on N = 114,674 participants was r = .27 ( p < .001). Cross-sectional results supported the general benefits model with no evidence of parent gender differences, but results showed stronger associations between depression and support from parents as a unit compared to either mothers or fathers alone. Crosssectional results also showed larger effect sizes for girls compared to boys in the association between depression and support from parents and mothers. However, there was no evidence for parent or youth gender differences in any of the longitudinal analyses. A significant cross-sectional dampening effect of stress on maternal/paternal support for both boys and girls was uncovered but disappeared in longitudinal analyses, and stress-buffering effects of parental support emerged over time in longitudinal analyses. Bidirectional analyses demonstrated parent and child effects with no youth gender differences. Sensitivity analyses showed little evidence of publication bias or historical influences. Limitations include lack of information about support type and developmental differences. Results underscore the importance of including both mothers and fathers in depression prevention and intervention efforts. Public Significance StatementThis meta-analysis demonstrated the importance of perceived social support from both mothers and fathers in relation to lower levels of depression in children and adolescents with modest youth gender differences. Results also showed that both mothers and fathers may be impacted in their capacity to provide social support to their daughters and sons in certain stressful contexts and provided clarification on the types of stressors that might lead to diminished effectiveness of parental social support. The results of the current meta-analysis have implications for further theory testing as well as clinical application and policy development to prevent and intervene in youth depression and reduce the burden of this serious and debilitating disorder through the life span.

The Effects of Family and School Interpersonal Relationships on Depression in Chinese Elementary School Children: The Mediating Role of Academic Stress and the Moderating Role of Self-Esteem

“…We identified the same predictive effect of father–child and mother–child relationships on their children’s depression, which supports H2 and is also consistent with the parenting similarity hypothesis [ 48 ] and some of the findings of other studies [ 46 , 47 ]. This finding suggests that the traditional view of fathers as children’s “secondary caregivers” is inconsistent with the facts [ 94 ].…”

“…A recent Chinese survey also showed that although the overall level of father-child attachment was lower than that of mother-child attachment, there was no significant difference in the extent to which the two affected depression in children [47]. This "parenting similarity hypothesis" is supported by the results of a recent large-sample meta-analysis by Rueger et al in which cross-sectional and longitudinal structures consistently showed similar effects of maternal and paternal support on depression [48]. In conclusion, we propose the following hypothesis: H2.…”

“…Based on the theory of depressive self-schemas [ 56 ], the social support that students perceive from their families and schools can support them in resolving stressors in their learning process, thus reducing their risk of developing depressive symptoms [ 68 ]. Specifically, in the family and school environment, positive parenting styles, a favorable environmental climate, belongingness to the campus, and close interpersonal relationships have not only significantly predicted levels of academic stress [ 48 , 59 , 65 ], but also correlated closely with an individual’s overall perception and regulation of stress [ 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 , 72 ]. Based on the above theoretical and empirical findings, we propose the following hypothesis:…”