Depressive Symptoms in Adolescence: Longitudinal Links with Maternal Empathy and Psychological Control

Reciprocal relationships among parental psychological control, emotion regulation ability, and subjective well-being of adolescents: Disentangling between- and within-person effects

BACKGROUND

Although research has demonstrated that parental psychological control is associated with the subjective well-being of adolescents, the lack of longitudinal studies that investigate whether or not bidirectional associations exist between the two and their potential mediating mechanisms has continued to date. In addition, previous studies have not rigorously distinguished between- and within-person effects. Thus, this study investigated longitudinal bidirectional associations between parental psychological control and the subjective well-being of adolescents. The study further examined the mediating role of emotion regulation ability.

METHODS

A total of 1365 Chinese adolescents (boys: 53.2 %; Mage = 14.68 years, SD = 1.56) participated in a three-wave longitudinal study with annual assessments. Random intercept cross-lagged panel models were utilized to separate between- and within-person variation.

RESULTS

After controlling for between-person variance, the results revealed that adolescents with low levels of subjective well-being reported high levels of parental psychological control after one year. Emotion regulation ability played a bidirectional mediating role in the relationship between psychological control and subjective well-being. That is, psychological control and subjective well-being mutually influenced each other through emotion regulation ability.

LIMITATIONS

Assessments of the key study variables were provided by adolescents. Moreover, the study considered a combination of the mothers' and fathers' use of psychological control without differentiating between paternal and maternal psychological control.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings highlight the importance of interventions that target emotion regulation ability, which contributes to breaking the negative cycle between controlling parenting and the well-being of adolescents.

Trajectories of Perceived Parental Psychological Control and the Longitudinal Associations with Chinese Adolescents' School Adjustment across High School Years

Past research supports the detrimental effects of parental psychological control on adolescent school adjustment in both emotional and academic domains. However, how psychological control changes during adolescence, and how such developmental course is related to adolescent psychological well-being and academic functioning are unclear. The direction of effects between parenting and child behaviors is also inconclusive. This 3-year longitudinal study addressed these research gaps by using five waves of survey data on 710 Chinese adolescents of high school ages (Mean age at T1 = 15.54 years, SD = 0.45, 50% males). Using latent growth curve models and latent class growth analysis, the majority of adolescents (about 63%) reported gradual increases of parental psychological control in the first 2 years of high school but a slight decline afterwards, while the other 37% perceived low and stable levels. Results from parallel latent growth modeling suggested that trajectories of psychological control were positively related to developmental trends of internalizing problems (i.e., depression and anxiety) and maladaptive academic functioning, but negatively associated with the trajectory of adaptive academic functioning, as indexed by intercept-intercept and slope-slope associations. The random-intercept cross-lagged models further revealed that psychological control was predictive of adolescent anxiety and lower adaptive academic functioning, and bidirectionally associated with maladaptive academic-related beliefs and behaviors at the within-person level. Taken together, these findings highlight the crucial role of parental psychological control on adolescent school adjustment in the Chinese cultural context and support the reciprocal model of parent-child interactions.

Effects of Parental Psychological Control on Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help in Senior High School Students: Serial Mediating Effects of Rejection Sensitivity and Social Withdrawal

The purpose of the current study was to examine the serial mediating effects of rejection sensitivity and social withdrawal on parental psychological control and attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help among senior high school students. In November 2022, 648 students completed a self-report questionnaire. The parental psychological control scale, senior high school students' rejection sensitivity scale, social withdrawal scale, and attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help scale were used for measurement. Correlation analysis showed parental psychological control and rejection sensitivity were positively correlated with social withdrawal (r = 0.387, 0.466, 0.495, all p < 0.001). Parental psychological control and rejection sensitivity were significantly negatively correlated with social withdrawal and attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help (r = -0.325, -0.324, -0.397, all p < 0.001). Mediating effect analysis indicated that parental psychological control had a significant direct effect on attitude toward seeking professional psychological help, and rejection sensitivity and social withdrawal had significant serial mediating effects among parental psychological control and attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help in senior high school students. These aspects warrant attention as they play significant roles in influencing students' willingness to seek psychological assistance. [Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 62(7), 47-55.].

The moderating effects of parental psychological control on the relationship between unsociability and socio-emotional functioning among Chinese children

Introduction

There have been studies indicating that children's unsociability was associated with poorer socio-emotional functioning in China. Although some researchers have found that parenting behavior would influence the relationship between children's unsociability and adjustment, the role of parental psychological control has not been explored. This study aimed to investigate the moderating effect of parental psychological control on the relationship between unsociability and socio-emotional functioning in Chinese children.

Methods

A total of 1,275 students from Grades 3 to 7 (637 boys, Mage = 10.78 years, SD = 1.55 years) were selected from four public schools in Shanghai to participate in this study. Data of unsociability, peer victimization and social preference were collected from peer-nominations, and data of parental psychological control, depressive symptoms and social anxiety were collected from self-reports.

Results

There were positive associations between unsociability and peer victimization, depressive symptoms, and social anxiety, as well as a negative association between unsociability and social preference. Parental psychological control moderated these associations, specifically, the associations between unsociability and peer victimization, social preference, and depressive symptoms were stronger, and the association between unsociability and social anxiety was only significant among children with higher level of parental psychological control.

Discussion

The findings in the current study highlight the importance of parental psychological control in the socio-emotional functioning of unsociable children in the Chinese context, enlightening educators that improving parenting behavior is essential for children's development.

Longitudinal Association between Maternal Autonomy Support and Controlling Parenting and Adolescents' Depressive Symptoms

Most studies on autonomy support and controlling parenting rely on children's perceptions, despite the limitations of this approach. This study investigated congruency between autonomy support and controlling parenting reported by mothers and adolescents and their association with adolescents' depressive symptoms via basic psychological needs satisfaction. Participants included 408 Japanese mother-adolescent (Mage = 13.73, SD = 0.90, 52% female) pairs who completed a questionnaire at two time points four months apart. Results demonstrated low to moderate levels of mother-adolescent agreement. Cross-lagged regression models revealed that mothers' reported autonomy support positively predicted adolescents' basic psychological needs satisfactions, which was negatively associated with depressive symptoms. The independent roles of parenting reported by mothers and adolescents for adolescents' well-being were discussed.

Invasive Exploitation and the Multiplicative Hypothesis: Polyvictimization and Adolescent Depression Symptoms in Nepal

Adverse effects of childhood maltreatment experience and adolescent depression symptoms are theorized to be more profound for adolescents who have suffered multiple maltreatments (polyvictimization). New theoretical insights into the study of polyvictimization suggest that it must be studied using a multiplicative logic, particularly when maltreatment is characterized by invasive exploitation. This study, for the first time, examined the concept of invasive exploitation in the context of polyvictimization and its association with adolescent depression symptoms. The study used a random, three stage probability proportional to size (PPS) cluster sample of 565 mother-adolescent dyads in Kathmandu, Nepal, and also examined the protective effects of maternal empathy. We hypothesized that (a) singly, the empirical categories of maltreatment (neglect, physical abuse, and child sexual abuse) would associate positively with adolescent depressive symptoms and (b) main effects held constant, the interaction effects of a child sexual abuse X neglect and a child sexual abuse X physical abuse would be positive. Regression with clustering corrections found that neglect (B = 3.17, p < .01) and sexual abuse (B = 3.48, p < .05) positively associated with adolescent depression symptoms. Results support the multiplicative invasive exploitation polyvictimization hypothesis (child sexual abuse X neglect interaction; B = 6.14, p < .05). The positive neglect X sexual abuse interaction is consistent with the theory that sexual abuse is distinct as invasive exploitation, and demonstrates that the multiplicative hypothesis can be fruitfully applied to the study of polyvictimization. Interventions targeting polyvictims with experience of invasive exploitation and studies aiming to provide deeper insights into sexual abuse as invasive exploitation are needed.

The role of family and peer factors in the development of early adolescent depressive symptoms: A latent class growth analysis

Few studies have explored the trajectories of Chinese early adolescent depressive symptoms or comprehensively considered the factors of family and peers. The present study aimed to identify the trajectories of depressive symptoms in early adolescence using a school-based sample assessed in three waves. The study also examined whether family and peer factors were significant predictors. A total of 586 Chinese primary and middle school students participated in the survey. A growth mixture model was used to find the trajectories of depressive symptoms, and multinominal logistic regression was used to identify the predictors. Three trajectories were identified, including a stable-low class, an increasing class, and a high-decreasing class. Results indicated that gender, parental psychological aggression and neglect, parental psychological control, traditional bullying/cyberbullying victimization, and friendship quality were significant predictors. However, witnessing intimate partner violence, parental behavior control, and traditional bullying/cyberbullying perpetration could not significantly predict the trajectories. The findings of this study can provide an empirical basis for teachers and clinical interveners to determine different development trajectories of depressive symptoms and carry out prevention and intervention.

The Development of Maternal Psychological Control in Early Adolescence: Maternal, Youth, and Neighborhood Antecedents

Despite abundant research documenting negative associations between parental psychological control and youth adjustment, little is known about precursors of parental psychological control. The current study evaluated maternal, youth, and neighborhood predictors of changes in maternal psychological control across the transition to adolescence. Mother-youth dyads (N = 211, 50.2% female children; 46.4% Latinx, 17.5% Black, 11.4% white, and 24.7% multiracial) reported on maternal psychological control at youth ages 10 and 12. Controlling for youth ethnicity and race, family income-to-needs, and prior levels of maternal psychological control at age 10, structural equation models showed that maternal problems (i.e., anxiety, alcohol dependence, caregiving helplessness) predicted increases and youth externalizing problems (e.g., attention problems, rule-breaking) predicted decreases in maternal reports of psychological control. Neighborhood risks (i.e., poverty, crime, single-parent households) predicted increases in youth reports of maternal psychological control. Exploratory analyses by gender indicated that neighborhood risks predicted decreases in maternal reports of psychological control for girls, but increases in maternal reports of psychological control for boys. This study identified specific antecedents of maternal psychological control that can be targeted in future intervention efforts to reduce negative parenting to promote positive youth development.

Accessing the Influence of Community Experience on Brand Loyalty Toward Virtual Brand Community: Developing Country Perspective

With the development of information technology, more and more companies have taken the initiative to build virtual brand communities to strengthen the connection between brands and customers and create brand loyalty, but existing research lacks a clear explanation of how the customer community experience of virtual brand communities affects brand loyalty. In response to this question, this paper investigates the role and mechanism of different types of community experiences, namely information experience, entertainment experience and interactive experience, generated by customers' participation in community activities on brand loyalty based on the customer experience perspective. The findings show that different types of community experiences have a significant impact on brand loyalty, and which community identity is partially mediated in all of them. Further analysis for segmented populations in virtual communities revealed significant differences in the above mechanisms for members of different genders. The findings of this paper are important guidance for companies to manage virtual brand communities and create brand loyalty.

The Experience of Succeeding and Failing at Self-Control: A Qualitative Analysis

Despite the importance of emotions for learning and performance of future behaviors, few studies have attempted to qualitatively describe emotions that arise in response to self-control successes and failures. This study is the first qualitative analysis to examine the complexity of goals that give rise to self-control challenges of two types—initiation and inhibition—and the emotions that follow success and failure experiences. Thematic analysis revealed a sometimes blurred line between inhibition and initiation, and a variety of goals that challenge views that successful self-control is good and unsuccessful self-control is bad. Descriptions of self-control challenges and resulting experiences further uncovered distinctions and apparent emotional profiles characteristic of self-control dilemmas involving inhibition or initiation, suggesting that these two forms of self-control are not only theoretically but also experientially distinct.

Measuring Social Desirability in Collectivist Countries: A Psychometric Study in a Representative Sample From Kazakhstan

Social desirability bias (SDB) is a pervasive measurement challenge in the social sciences and survey research. More clarity is needed to understand the performance of social desirability scales in diverse groups, contexts, and cultures. The present study aims to contribute to the international literature on social desirability measurement by examining the psychometric performance of a short version of the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MCSDS) in a nationally representative sample of teachers in Kazakhstan. A total of 2,461 Kazakhstani teachers completed the MCSDS - Form C in their language of choice (i.e., Russian or Kazakh). The results failed to support the theoretical unidimensionality of the original scale. Instead, the results of Random Intercept Item Factor Analysis model suggest that the scale answers depend more on the method factor rather than the substantial factor that represents SDB. In addition, an alternative explanation indicates that the scale seems better suited to measuring two SDB correlated factors: attribution and denial. Internal consistency coefficients demonstrated unsatisfactory reliability scores for the two factors. The Kazakhstani version of the MCSDS - Form C was invariant across geographic location (i.e., urban vs. rural), language (i.e., Kazakh vs. Russian), and partially across age groups. However, no measurement invariance was demonstrated for gender. Despite these limitations, the analysis of the Kazakhstani version of the MCSDS - Form C presented in this study constitutes a first step in facilitating further research and measurement of SDB in post-Soviet Kazakhstan and other collectivist countries.

Impact of Thin-Ideals in Influencer Posts Promoting Healthy vs. Unhealthy Foods on Tweens' Healthy Food Choice Behavior

The current study examines how social media influencers can be deployed to promote healthy food choice behavior among tweens. In particular, we investigated whether tweens' healthy food choice behavior can be stimulated by using a thin-ideal influencer in a sponsored influencer post promoting unhealthy vs. healthy food. A two-by-two, between-subjects experimental study (influencer weight: thin-ideal vs. overweight; snack-type: unhealthy vs. healthy) was conducted with 146 tweens (11-13 years old, 73 boys). Results show that tweens' choice for a healthy snack was higher when a (female) overweight influencer promoted an unhealthy snack (compared to a healthy snack). Using a thin-ideal influencer promoting an unhealthy vs. healthy snack did not affect tweens' healthy food choices. While there were no interaction effects of influencer weight and snack type on source effects (influencer credibility, influencer admiration, and trans-parasocial interactions), the results did show that the influencer was perceived as less credible and was admired less when she was overweight vs. when she had a thin-ideal body-type.

Profiles and transition of mental health problems among Chinese adolescents: The predictive role of friendship quality, parental autonomy support, and psychological control

INTRODUCTION

Mental health problems have become a global crisis of the 21st century, with adolescence being a typical period of the outbreak of these problems. However, the profiles and transition of mental health problems in Chinese adolescents remain unclear. In addition, protective and risk factors that shape mental health problems require further clarification.

METHODS

We measured depression, anxiety, and stress as indicators to identify the profiles and transition patterns of mental health problems among Chinese adolescents, as well as environment-related predictors (i.e., friendship quality, parental psychological control, and autonomy support). A total of 722 participants (376 females; M_age  = 15.21, SD_age  = 0.74) completed a set of questionnaires at two time points with a 1-year interval (T1: November 2018; T2: November 2019).

RESULTS

The profile analysis revealed two groups: healthy and troubled. The development of mental health problems included four trajectories: steady low, steady high, increasing, and decreasing. Results indicated that parental autonomy support and friendship quality exerted protective and buffering effects, whereas parental psychological control acted as a risk factor for mental health problem profiles. Furthermore, friendship quality had a unique predictive effect on the decreasing trajectory.

CONCLUSIONS

The profiles of mental health problems showed high concurrency of depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms, and developmental trajectories were largely stable over time. Friendship quality, parental autonomy support, and psychological control predicted the profiles of the mental health problems of Chinese adolescents, and only friendship quality predicted the transition from a troubled to healthy profile over 1 year.

Support From Parents, Peers, and Teachers Is Differently Associated With Middle School Students' Well-Being

Parents, peers, and teachers provide a powerful context for school students’ well-being. However, a detailed and systematic analysis of how parental, peer, and teacher support relate to students’ well-being, measured by the dimensions self-worth, psychological and physical well-being, is still missing. To address this research gap, the following study investigates 733 adolescent German students from grades 7 and 8 (M_age = 13.97, SD = 0.41, 52% girls) with respect to their perceived supportive relationships at home and within the school context. The study considers gender, socioeconomic status, and school form as potential confounders. The results of the structural equation model, analyzed with the statistical software R, indicate that perceived teacher support was positively related to students’ self-worth and physical well-being, while peer support was related to psychological well-being. Students who perceived their parents as supportive reported higher well-being with respect to all three dimensions investigated.

Cross-lagged panel analyses of maternal psychological control and young adolescents' emotion regulation

INTRODUCTION

The present study examined the longitudinal relations between maternal psychological control and emotion regulation in Chinese adolescents. Specifically, we examined how emotion regulation was reciprocally associated with multiple dimensions of psychological control, including love withdrawal, guilt induction, and shaming in the Chinese cultural context.

METHODS

Participants consisted of 865 Chinese students from fourth through eighth grade (50.8% girls; M_age = 11.82 years at Wave 1, SD_age = 1.28 at Wave 1, range = 10-15 years). Data were collected at two time-periods over a one-year period. Children reported on their emotion regulation. Mothers rated their engagement in love withdrawal, guilt induction, and shaming.

RESULTS

Cross-lagged panel analyses revealed an adequate model fit. Children's emotion regulation at study onset predicted decreases in all three dimensions of maternal psychological control one year later, whereas the three dimensions of maternal psychological control did not significantly predict emotion regulation one year later.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings revealed the longitudinal associations among child emotion regulation and maternal psychological control within a specific cultural context. Implications for the meaning of psychological control parenting in Chinese culture are discussed.

Influence of parental academic involvement on the achievement goal orientations of high school students in China: A latent growth model study

BACKGROUND

Many studies on parental involvement in their children's education have limitations in cross-sectional designs in spite of examining the relationships between this involvement and achievement goal orientations. Thus, little is known about whether and how parental involvement affects achievement goal orientations over time.

AIMS

This study examines the influence of parental involvement on achievement goal orientations among Chinese high school students.

SAMPLE

The participants included 741 high school students (367 girls; M_age  = 15.51 years, SD = .46) in China.

METHODS

The data were collected in five waves with a 6-month interval, starting in the autumn of tenth grade and ending in the autumn of twelfth grade. In each wave, participants reported their perceived degree of parental involvement, mastery goal orientation, performance-approach goal orientation and performance-avoidance goal orientation.

RESULTS

Over time, a decline was seen in these high school students' perceived level of parental involvement and mastery goal orientation, while an increase in their performance-approach goal orientation and stability in terms of their performance-avoidance goal orientation were found. In addition, the results indicated that the level of and changes in parental involvement had significant effects on the changes in mastery goal orientation, and were unrelated to those of two performance goal orientations.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings evidence the dynamic nature of parental involvement and students' achievement goal orientations, as well as the positive influence of such involvement on the endorsement and development of mastery goal orientation, while this was not the case for the other two performance goal orientations.

Trajectories of Perceived Parental Psychological Control across Adolescence and Implications for the Development of Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms

Theory and research indicate considerable changes in parental control across adolescence (e.g., declining behavioral control), but the developmental course and significance of psychological control remains largely unknown. This study examined trajectories of adolescents' reports of mothers' and fathers' psychological control from ages 12 to 19, predictors of occupying distinct trajectories, and the developmental significance of these trajectories for adolescents' development of depressive and anxiety symptoms. It used eight waves of survey data on 500 adolescents (M_age = 11.83, SD = 1.03; 52% female; 67% White, 12% African American) and their parents from the Pacific Northwest United States. Most adolescents (about 90%) reported low but increasing levels of parental psychological control over time, with a small but significant subset (about 10%) perceiving perpetually elevated levels. Mothers' (but not fathers') depressive symptoms, reported at the age 12 assessment, predicted adolescents' membership in the elevated psychological control trajectory. Adolescents occupying these elevated trajectories showed more problematic growth in depressive and anxiety symptoms across adolescence. Taken together, the findings suggest that many adolescents experience increased parental psychological control as they age, and that variability in these trends indicates individual differences in their development of depressive and anxiety symptoms over time.