Gender differences in the relationships between parental phubbing and adolescents' depressive symptoms: The mediating role of parent-adolescent communication

The Associations Between Parental Phubbing, Adolescent Phubbing, and Adolescents' Adjustments: A Cross-Lagged Panel Network Analysis

A growing body of research indicates that phubbing can negatively influence adolescent development, it is not clear how perceived parental phubbing, adolescent phubbing, and adolescents' adjustment problems concurrently relate to each other at the dimension level. This study conducted the contemporaneous network analyses and cross-lagged network analysis to examine the distinct relationships between the various dimensions of perceived father phubbing, perceived mother phubbing, adolescent phubbing and adolescent's adjustment problems. A total of 1447 Chinese students (60.5% females; Mean age = 16.15, SD = 0.65) completed a survey at two-time points. The results of the contemporaneous network analyses indicated that perceived father/mother ignorance have the strongest links with the dimensions of adolescent phubbing and adolescents' adjustment problems, suggesting that adolescents who reported high levels of perceived father/mother ignorance are more likely to concurrently face other issues and thus should be a primary focus of concern. The cross-lagged panel network analysis revealed that academic burnout is the primary catalyst in this dynamic network, which underscores a child-driven effect within the network. This emphasizes the importance of addressing adolescent academic burnout as a pivotal intervention point, both to alleviate phubbing in parent-adolescent interactions and to tackle adolescents' adjustment problems.

A systematic review of the association between parent-child communication and adolescent mental health

Background

This systematic review addresses how adolescent-rated parent-child communication (PCC) quality is related to adolescent mental health.

Methods

We performed a systematic literature search in Medline and APA PsycInfo, including peer-reviewed quantitative studies examining associations between adolescent-rated dyadic PCC quality and general as well as specific measures of adolescent mental health. Qualitative and case studies were excluded, as were studies reporting only parent-rated communication quality or instruments assessing other constructs than dyadic PCC. We screened 5314 articles, of which 37 were included in the review. We assessed study quality with the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool.

Results

We synthesized the findings in a table and narratively, reporting the main outcomes organized according to mental health constructs. The included studies were mainly cross-sectional. The results showed that adolescent-rated PCC quality is negatively associated with mental health constructs, demonstrating small to large effects across different mental health constructs and populations. The associations were found for general mental health and specific domains, including depression, anxiety, psychosis, suicidal ideation, post-traumatic stress symptoms, and addictive internet use/gaming.

Conclusions

The findings demonstrate that PCC is a relevant variable to consider in assessing adolescent mental health and preventive efforts. Limitations include the exclusive focus on adolescent-reported PCC questionnaires since parent- and observer-rated instruments may lead to different results. Also, PCC is related to other constructs, such as dyadic relationships, that were not included in this review. We conclude that PCC is a relevant variable to consider in mental health research. Our findings suggest that PCC may be considered in mental health practice, both in terms of assessing its quality and potentially by tailoring interventions to enhance PCC. These may represent a mean to promote adolescent mental health.

The relationship between family communication and family resilience in Chinese parents of depressed adolescents: a serial multiple mediation of social support and psychological resilience

BACKGROUND

Family resilience plays a crucial role in helping depressed adolescents overcome challenges. However, studies examining family resilience in depressed adolescents are currently scarce. This study, guided by the family resilience framework, aimed to investigate the serial-multiple mediation of social support and psychological resilience between family communication and family resilience in Chinese families of depressed adolescents.

METHODS

In 229 parents of adolescents with major depressive disorder, 20.1% comprises of fathers, while 79.9% comprises of mothers. The mean age of depressed adolescents was 14.84 (±1.76) years, and the mean age of parents of these depressed adolescents was 43.24 (±4.67) years. The Family Resilience Assessment Scale (FRAS), the Psychological Resilience of Parents of Special Children Questionnaire, and the Social Support Rating Scale, Family Assessment Device (FAD) were used to collected data. Descriptive, univariate, and Pearson correlation analyses were used in preliminary analyses. To explore mediation, we employed a serial-multiple mediation model (PROCESS model 6).

RESULTS

Family communication was positively correlated with family resilience, social support, and psychological resilience. Mediation analysis revealed indirect effects of family communication on family resilience, which were mediated solely by either social support or psychological resilience, or through multiple mediation pathways involving both social support and psychological resilience.

CONCLUSIONS

Family communication positively and directly affects the family resilience of depressed adolescents, and a higher level of social support and psychological resilience can help improve family resilience. These findings not only provide empirical evidence supporting the family resilience framework but also have practical implications for future family interventions targeting depressed adolescents.

Triple-P: Interaction of mother-adolescent with intellectual and developmental disability

This study aimed to investigate the effect of a Positive Parenting Program (Triple-P) on the interaction of the mother-adolescent with intellectual disability. The pre-test and post-test randomized experimental design was used for this research. Thirty-four mothers of adolescents with intellectual disability took part in the present research and were assigned to experimental and control groups, each comprised of 17 people. The experimental group took part in an 8-session Triple-P and each session lasted 75 minutes, but the control group did not participate in this intervention. The data were analyzed using MANCOVA. The findings revealed that Triple-P intervention significantly influenced dependency, closeness, conflict, and positive interaction between the mother and the child with intellectual disability. The present study emphasized that Triple-P will improve the interaction of mother-adolescent with intellectual disability; therefore, Triple-P is a useful intervention.

Mother phubbing and harsh mothering: Mothers' irritability and adolescents' gender as moderators

BACKGROUND

While extant evidence supports the link between mother phubbing (Mphubbing) and harsh mothering, the current understanding of factors that may affect this relationship is limited.

METHODS

Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to examine the relation between Mphubbing and harsh mothering, as well as to explore whether mothers' irritability and adolescents' gender would moderate this relationship. The participants included 482 middle school students (51.7 % girls) and their mothers from China.

RESULTS

The results revealed a significant positive association between Mphubbing as reported by adolescents and their perception of harsh mothering. However, the predictive power of Mphubbing for harsh mothering varied based on mothers' irritability and adolescents' gender. Specifically, the association between Mphubbing and harsh mothering was perceived more strongly in girls than in boys, but this gender difference was only observed among adolescents whose mothers rated themselves as high in irritability.

CONCLUSIONS

The current study offers a preliminary understanding of the association between Mphubbing and harsh mothering through mothers' irritability and adolescents' gender as moderators, which has certain theoretical and practical implications for comprehending harsh mothering in the digital age.

Parental Phubbing and Child Social-Emotional Adjustment: A Meta-Analysis of Studies Conducted in China

Introduction

Parental phubbing refers to the act of parents using mobile phones in the presence of their children instead of engaging with them. With increasing smartphone use in many households, parental phubbing is a potential threat to children's healthy development. This meta-analysis synthesized the existing evidence on the impact of parental phubbing on children's social-emotional development to examine the effect sizes and identify the moderators.

Methods

Following the PRISMA guidelines, we conducted a systematic search across multiple electronic databases (Web of Science, EBSCO, ProQuest, Springer, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure) from 2012 to May 2023. Our search included both English and Chinese literature, encompassing published journal articles as well as thesis. To assess the risk of bias, we utilized the Quality Assessment Tool for Observational Cohort and Cross-Sectional Studies. Publication bias was evaluated using funnel plot interpretation and Egger's regression intercept.

Results

Our comprehensive search identified 42 studies with 56,275 children and 59 effect sizes. A random-effects meta-analysis revealed that parental phubbing was positively associated with children's internalizing problems (r = 0.270; 95% CI [0.234, 0.304]) and externalizing problems (r = 0.210; 95% CI [0.154, 0.264]), while negatively correlated with children's self-concept (r = -0.206; 95% CI [-0.244, -0.168]) and social-emotional competence (r = -0.162; 95% CI [-0.207, -0.120]). Furthermore, the parental phubbing group moderated the association between parental phubbing and internalizing problems, when both parents engage in phubbing, there is a stronger association with children's externalizing problems compared to when only one parent is engaging in phubbing.

Discussion

The findings of this meta-analysis provide strong evidence supporting the detrimental effects of parental phubbing on child social-emotional adjustment. Consequently, parents, researchers, and the government must collaborate to mitigate parental phubbing and promote the healthy development of children's social-emotional abilities.

The effect of duration of youth/parent communication on depression and anxiety during COVID-19 isolation in China

The current study examines the mediating roles of self-efficacy and sleep disturbance and the moderating role of gender in the association between the duration of youth/parent communication on depression and anxiety during the COVID-19 isolation period in China. We used the self-designed demographic variable questionnaire, General Self-Efficacy Scale, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, the Self-Rating Depression Scale, and the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale with 1,772 youths aged 15-24 from 26 provinces in China during the COVID-19 lockdown. We performed demographic variable analysis, correlation analysis, mediation analysis, and moderated analysis. The duration of daily communication with parents was significantly positively correlated with self-efficacy and significantly negatively correlated with sleep disturbance, depression, and anxiety. The chain mediation analysis revealed that the duration of communication with parents directly affected depression and anxiety. Self-efficacy, sleep disturbance, and self-efficacy sleep disturbance had significant mediating and chain-mediating effects on the duration of communication with parents, depression, and anxiety. The interactions between sleep disturbance and gender (B = 0.35, 95% CI 0.06 to 0.64, p = .02 < .05) were significant. The duration of parent/youth communication directly affected depression and anxiety and indirectly affected depression and anxiety via the chain-mediating effect of self-efficacy and sleep disturbance. Gender moderates the relationships between sleep disturbance and depression.

More prevalent and more severe: gender differences of depressive symptoms in Chinese adolescents

Background

Adolescent depression has become a leading problem around the world, especially as the COVID-19 pandemic has remained prevalent and heavily influenced people's mental health. While gender difference has always been a topic in the field of psychiatry, there are cultural differences across the world that must be taken into account. The current study is examining gender differences in symptoms of Chinese adolescents with depression.

Methods

The sample was obtained from a total of 574 adolescent patients (172 males and 402 females) diagnosed with depression following the DSM-IV/ICD-10 diagnostic criteria; patients who also had other severe mental or physical illnesses were excluded. The ages of participants ranged from 10 to 19 years. Additionally, independent t-test and one-way ANOVA were used to examine differences in symptoms between different gender and age groups. The LPA was used to examine whether females and males were having different patterns of symptoms.

Results

Our analysis showed that compared to males, females exhibited higher rates of depression and more severe depressive symptoms across age groups. Likewise, the analysis also revealed an earlier onset of depression among Chinese adolescents compared to that in Western countries in previous studies. Finally, the LPA showed that mild to moderate depression was predominant in male patients, while severe depression was predominant in female patients.

Conclusion

This study highlights the gender differences in the prevalence and severity of depressive symptoms in Chinese adolescents. The current study highlighted the importance of gender equality and developing gender-friendly interventions in maintaining the overall mental health of adolescents in China.

Mother phubbing and adolescents' problematic SNS use: the mediating role of perceived burdensomeness and the moderating role of need to belong

There is a rapidly growing academic interest on parental phubbing, however, little research has explored the association between mother phubbing and adolescent problematic social networking sites use (PSNSU), the underlying mediating and moderating effects in this relationship are also in need to be uncovered. The present study examined whether mother phubbing would be positively related to adolescent PSNSU, whether perceived burdensomeness would mediate this relationship, and whether need to belong would moderate the associations between mother phubbing and adolescent PSNSU. The hypothesized research model was examined among 3,915 Chinese adolescents (47% of them were boys, mean age = 16.42 ± 0.77 years). The results showed that mother phubbing was positively associated with adolescent PSNSU and perceived burdensomeness mediated this association. Furthermore, need to belong moderated the relationship between perceived burdensomeness and PSNSU, the relationship between mother phubbing and perceived burdensomeness, and the relationship between mother phubbing and PSNSU.

The Relationship Between Parental Phubbing and Interpersonal Aggression in Adolescents: The Role of Rejection Sensitivity and School Climate

The impact of parental phubbing has attracted the attention of researchers, especially concerning adolescents' online behavior. However, limited research has studied the influence of parental phubbing on interpersonal aggression, including the underlying mechanism. Grounded in parental acceptance-rejection theory, the present study investigated the association between parental phubbing and interpersonal aggression as well as the mediating role of rejection sensitivity among adolescents. Additionally, school climate was explored as a moderator based on social ecological theory. The multiple questionnaires were completed by 914 Chinese adolescents (M = 12.61; SD = 1.73; 49.78% girls). The results revealed a positive correlation between parental phubbing and aggression, which was mediated by rejection sensitivity. That is, adolescents who experienced parental phubbing were more likely to exhibit rejection sensitivity, which further triggered aggression. Moreover, school climate acted as a moderator in the model. Specifically, we found no significant moderating effect of school climate on parental phubbing and aggression. However, school climate moderated the relationship between rejection sensitivity and aggression. A positive school climate buffered the associations of rejection sensitivity and aggression. Additionally, school climate moderated the relationship between parental phubbing and rejection sensitivity. The relationship between parental phubbing and rejection sensitivity became nonsignificant when adolescents were in a negative school climate, and those adolescents reported higher rejection sensitivity whether they experienced parental phubbing or not. Parental phubbing was more strongly associated with adolescents' rejection sensitivity in a positive school climate. With a lower level of parental phubbing, rejection sensitivity is sharply reduced. The results deepen our understanding of the relationship between parental phubbing and aggression and its underlying mechanisms. It also implicates preventative interventions to reduce the risk of parental phubbing in interpersonal aggression among adolescents.

Does parental phubbing aggravates adolescent sleep quality problems?

Objective

Based on the theoretical model for the "stress-sleep" relationship, this study investigated the impact of parental phubbing on adolescent sleep quality problems and a moderated mediation mechanism.

Methods

A total of 781 adolescents was surveyed using the Chinese version of Parental Phubbing Scale, the Ultra-brief Screening Scale for Depression and Anxiety Scale, the Self-Control Questionnaire for Chinese children, and the Chinese version of Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index Scale.

Results

Parental phubbing and negative emotions were significantly and positively correlated to sleep quality problems, but self-control was not correlated to sleep quality problems. Parental phubbing directly influenced sleep quality problems and also indirectly influenced sleep quality problems through the mediating effect of negative emotions. Moreover, self-control played a moderating role in the path of parental phubbing affecting negative emotions. That is, the effect was more significant for adolescents low in self-control relative to those high in self-control.

Conclusion

Parental phubbing is a risk factor for adolescent sleep quality problems. This study is the first to demonstrate empirical evidence for the relationship between parental phubbing and sleep quality problems.

Relationship between Partner Phubbing and Parent-Adolescent Relationship Quality: A Family-Based Study

A high-quality parent-child relationship is critical to the health and well-being of adolescents and, in the family system, the interaction pattern within couples is a decisive factor in parent-adolescent relationship quality. Using dyadic data from 441 Chinese couples, in this study, we examined the association between partner phubbing (a negative interaction behavior initiated by the spouse) and parent-adolescent relationship quality, and further explored the moderating effect of adolescent gender. Dyadic modeling showed that partner phubbing had both an intra-person effect and an inter-person effect on parent-adolescent relationship quality. For the intra-person effect, husbands' phubbing had an adverse effect on the mother-adolescent relationship quality, and this effect was stronger for girls than boys; wives' phubbing had a positive effect on the father-adolescent relationship quality, but this effect was only significant for boys. For the inter-person effect, the negative influence of husbands' phubbing on father-adolescent relationship quality was only significant for boys; wives' phubbing was uncorrelated with mother-adolescent relationship quality. These findings deepen our understanding of the links between the marital subsystem and the parent-adolescent subsystem in the family, underscore the importance of positive marital interactions for adolescent development, and have implications for personal smartphone use management in family contexts.

Parents can't see me, can peers see me? Parental phubbing and adolescents' peer alienation via the mediating role of parental rejection

BACKGROUND

Parental neglect has been shown to be associated with adolescents' peer alienation. However, few previous studies have considered parental phubbing as a new form of social neglect during parent-child interactions related to adolescents' peer alienation, and much less is known about the mechanisms underlying this relationship.

OBJECTIVE

The present study explored the relationship between father phubbing (Fphubbing) and mother phubbing (Mphubbing) and adolescents' peer alienation. Moreover, it examined whether adolescents' perceived paternal and maternal rejection mediate these associations.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

A sample of 1140 students (M_age = 12.18 years, SD = 0.90) completed the measures of parental phubbing, parental rejection, and peer alienation.

METHODS

Structural equation modeling was used to assess the direct effects of Fphubbing and Mphubbing on adolescents' peer alienation and their indirect effects through adolescents' perceived paternal and maternal rejection as mediators.

RESULTS

The results indicated that Fphubbing and Mphubbing were positively related to adolescents' peer alienation. Perceived maternal rejection mediated the relationship between Mphubbing and adolescents' peer alienation. The relationship between Mphubbing and maternal rejection was stronger for adolescent girls.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study offers a preliminary understanding of how parental phubbing associates with adolescents' peer alienation through the mediating role of adolescents' perceived parental rejection, which has certain theoretical and practical implications for comprehending adolescents' peer alienation in the mobile age.

The Effect of Parental Phubbing on Depression in Chinese Junior High School Students: The Mediating Roles of Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction and Self-Esteem

Objective

To reveal the relationship between parental phubbing, basic psychological needs satisfaction, self-esteem, and depression and to explore the impact of parental phubbing on depression.

Methods

A total of 819 junior high school students responded to the parental phubbing scale, basic psychological needs satisfaction scale, self-esteem scale, and depression scale in combination.

Results

(1) Parental phubbing was significantly correlated with satisfaction of basic psychological needs, self-esteem, and depression. (2) Parental phubbing can not only be used to directly predict depression in junior middle school students but also has an indirect impact on depression through three pathways: a separate mediating effect on basic psychological needs satisfaction, a separate mediating effect on self-esteem and a chain mediating effect on both.

Conclusion

Parental phubbing is a risk factor for depression, which can negatively affect the mental health of junior high school students.