Citation

Hou J, Chen Z, Guo F. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020; 17(21): e8240.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, MDPI: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)

DOI

10.3390/ijerph17218240

PMID

33171873

Abstract

Sameroff's transactional theory emphasizes a bidirectional process between parents and offspring. The present study explored the reciprocal relationships between parental and adolescent depressive symptoms using a cross-lagged model and examined the mediating effect of nurturant-involved parenting on the relationship between them. Data for the present study were collected from a longitudinal study, and a total of 1644 adolescents and their mothers and fathers participated in the present study. The results revealed a reciprocal relationship between maternal and adolescent depressive symptoms, and the child-driven effect was more robust than the mother-driven effect. Adolescent depressive symptoms significantly predicted paternal depressive symptoms, but not vice versa. In addition, adolescent depressive symptoms indirectly predicted maternal and paternal depressive symptoms by deteriorating nurturant-involved parenting. These findings highlight a child-driven effect on parents' psychopathology, which may shed light on the mechanism underlying depression transmission between parents and adolescents.

Language: en

Keywords

adolescents; parenting; child-driven effect; depressive symptoms; transactional relationship