Citation

Luijten CC, van de Bongardt D, Jongerling J, Nieboer AP. BMC Public Health 2021; 21(1): e1871.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group - BMC)

DOI

10.1186/s12889-021-11920-4

PMID

34656101

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Internalizing mental health problems (i.e., depression and anxiety symptoms) are known to be related negatively to adolescents' well-being. However, whether this negative association manifests equally in boys and girls, and the potential buffering role of high-quality relationships with mothers and fathers, remain unknown. Thus, the present study was conducted to 1) investigate associations among adolescents' internalizing problems and mother- and father-adolescent relationship quality, on the one hand, and adolescents' well-being, on the other hand, 2) explore the buffering role of high-quality mother- and father-adolescent relationships in the association between adolescents' internalizing problems and well-being, and 3) examine gender differences in these main and buffering effects.

METHODS: The analysis sample consisted of 1064 adolescents (53.7% girls; aged 11-17 years) from three secondary schools in the Netherlands. Participants filled out an online questionnaire incorporating the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form to measure well-being, the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale-25 to measure internalizing problems, and the Network of Relationships Inventory to measure mother- and father-adolescent relationship quality. The cross-sectional data were analyzed using path models in R, controlling for age, ethnocultural background, and education level. Multigroup analyses were performed to identify gender differences.

RESULTS: Adolescents with fewer internalizing problems (β = - 0.40, p < 0.001) and adolescents with higher-quality relationships with their mothers and fathers reported higher concurrent levels of well-being (β = 0.10 to 0.18, all p < 0.01). The quality of mother-adolescent relationships had a significantly larger association with adolescents' well-being than that of father-adolescent relationship quality. However, relationships with mothers and fathers did not significantly buffer the association between adolescents' internalizing problems and well-being. Multigroup analyses revealed no difference between boys and girls.

CONCLUSIONS: The current study contributes to the understanding of internalizing problems as an important risk factor for adolescents' well-being, regardless of the quality of relationships with mothers and fathers. The quality of adolescents' relationships with their parents is associated positively with their well-being, even in the presence of internalizing problems. These findings underline the importance of mothers' and fathers' roles in adolescent boys' and girls' well-being.

Language: en

Keywords

Gender difference; Adolescence; Well-being; Internalizing problems; Parent–adolescent relationship quality