Examining parenting and adolescent depressive symptoms in Chinese families across rural and urban contexts

• In Event: Poster Session 07
  In Poster Session: PS 07 Topic - Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Abstract

Ecological theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1994) explains how adolescent development is embedded in and hence influenced by familial and socio-cultural contexts. In China, past studies have found that adolescent well-being is negatively impacted by parental psychological control (Nigela, Xia, Yan, & Li, 2015; Sun, Li, Ma, & Fu, 2019; Xiang & Liu, 2017) and positively affected by parental involvement (e.g., helping adolescents with education or personal problems; Fan & Chen, 2001; Li et al., 2019; Tsang, 2011). Most studies, however, have examined mother’s parenting, overlooking the parenting of fathers. This study considers both mother’s and father’s parenting, and their combination, in addressing the following research questions: (a) does parental psychological control serve as a risk factor in the association between parental involvement and adolescent depressive symptoms in China; and (b) do these associations differ by urban and rural regions of China. It is important to examine predictors of depressive symptoms across geographic location given findings suggesting that rural adolescents report greater depressive symptoms than urban adolescents in China (Zhou, 2018).
Method
Participants included 2849 Chinese adolescents (Mage = 14.86, SD = 2.05); 48.3% male; 51.7% female) from a large city (n=1518; 53.3%) and a rural town (n=1331; 46.7%) in southern China. Parental involvement was assessed using a 6-item measure that asked adolescents how helpful their mothers and fathers were in areas such as education, personal relationships, and career planning (e.g. “My father/mother have helped me to make plans for education after high school”; Tucker et al. 2001; αmother= 0.86, αfather= 0.87). Parental psychological control was assessed using a combination of items from two measures (Barber,1996; Barber et al, 2005; Schaefer, 1965; αmother= 0.92, αfather= 0.93). Depressive symptoms were assessed using The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale-Revised (CESD-R; Eaton, Muntaner, Smith, Tien, & Ybarra, 2004; α=0.94).
Data analysis and results
To account for missing data, 10 imputations were generated using the study variables and additional auxiliary variables (Enders, 2010). Pooled values of study variables were calculated using SPSS version 25. T-test results revealed that rural adolescents reported more depressive symptoms and perceived less parental involvement than urban adolescents. Multiple regressions indicated two significant 3-way interactions between father involvement, father/mother psychological control, and geographic location on adolescent depressive symptoms, after controlling for participants’ school grade level, siblings, gender, and parents’ education (see Table 1 & Table 2). For rural adolescents, a negative association was found between father involvement and depressive symptoms when father/mother control was low; no association was found when father/mother control was high. For urban adolescents, depressive symptoms were negatively associated with father involvement regardless of levels of parental control (see Figure 1 & Figure 2). No significant 3-way interactions were found among mother involvement, control and geographic location.
Discussion
Findings demonstrate the importance of considering the combination of mothers’ and fathers’ parenting constructs in research with Chinese adolescents. Mental health practitioners should tailor programs specifically for parents in rural areas of China that seek to decrease the use of psychological control and increase the use of involvement.

Authors

• Yuan Zhang, Michigan State University
  Presenting Author

• Linda C. Halgunseth, Michigan State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Hao Wu, Other ( Guangzhou Medical University)
  Non-Presenting Author

• Shanhong Luo, University of North Carolina Wilmington
  Non-Presenting Author