Psychological Well-being and Perceived Parenting Style among Adolescents

Co-developmental trajectories of suicidal ideation and non-suicidal self-injury among Chinese adolescents: Transdiagnostic predictors and association with suicide attempts

INTRODUCTION

Adolescent suicidal ideation (SI) and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) are crucial public health issues, yet their co-developmental trajectories during early adolescence and their associations with predictors and outcomes are unclear. This study aimed to (a) identify heterogeneous co-developmental trajectories of SI and NSSI, (b) explore associations between transdiagnostic predictors and trajectories, and (c) assess suicide attempt risk across trajectories.

METHODS

Four hundred fifty-three adolescents (Mage = 12.35 years, 48.3% boys) completed surveys at 6-month intervals across 2 years. At Time 1 (Nov 2020), participants completed surveys encompassing SI, and NSSI, along with family, peer, and individual predictors. Subsequent surveys (Times 2-4) measured SI and NSSI, with suicide attempts queried at Time 4.

RESULTS

Parallel process latent class growth models revealed three co-developmental groups (i.e., Stable low NSSI and SI; Moderate-NSSI and high-SI, parallel decreasing; High-NSSI and moderate-SI, parallel increasing). Multivariate logistic regression indicated that group membership was predicted by parental rejection, parental warmth, bullying victimization, depressive and anxiety symptoms, thwarted belongingness, and perceived burdensomeness. Adolescents in the "High-NSSI and moderate-SI, parallel increasing" group reported the highest suicide attempt frequency.

CONCLUSION

These findings underscore subgroup distinctions and transdiagnostic predictors in comprehending SI and NSSI progression, emphasizing the necessity of dynamic monitoring and tailored interventions for distinct subgroup characteristics.

The Relationship Between Stressful Life Events and Depressive Symptoms in College Students: mediation by Parenting Style and Gender's Moderating Effect

Aim

Stressful life events have a significant impact on the mental health of college students. Depression, as a prevalent psychological issue, has garnered attention in the field of college student mental health and is closely linked to it. Additionally, parenting style is identified as an important factor influencing the development of college students' mental health. Therefore, this study aims to explore the relationship between these three factors.

Methods

A total of 8079 first-year college students from two medical universities in Shandong Province, China were surveyed. The Beck Depression Inventory was utilized to evaluate depressive symptoms among the college students, while the Adolescent Self-rating Life Events Checklist and the Egna Minnen Beträfande Uppfostran were employed to gather data. Subsequently, the SPSS macro program PROCESS was utilized to analyze both the mediating and moderating effects. All statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS 26.0.

Results

The study found a detection rate of 6.3% for depressive symptoms among college students. The correlation analysis of this study showed that the stressful life events of college students were significantly positively correlated with depressive symptoms (r=0.261, p< 0.01). Each dimension of parenting style was associated with depressive symptoms in different degrees and directions. At the same time, parenting styles of all sizes play a partial mediating role between stressful life events and depressive symptoms in college students, gender plays a crucial regulatory role in this mediation.

Conclusion

Stressful life events experienced by college students have a significant impact on their mental health. Early intervention through positive parenting styles from parents may prove to be beneficial in promoting the development of good mental health among college students.

Effect of parenting style on the emotional and behavioral problems among Chinese adolescents: the mediating effect of resilience

BACKGROUND

Although previous studies have found that parenting style significantly predicts emotional and behavioral problems (EBPs) among Chinese adolescents, the mechanism between different parenting styles and EBPs requires in-depth investigation. In our study, we aimed to investigate the mediating effect of resilience, a positive psychological characteristic, between parenting style and EBPs among Chinese adolescents.

METHODS

In this cross-sectional study, we used a multistage stratified cluster random sampling method to collect data in Shenyang, Liaoning Province from November to December 2019. Self-developed questionnaires were distributed to 1028 adolescents aged 10-18. Finally, the study consisted of 895 participants. The bootstrap method was used to investigate the role of resilience as a mediator in the relationship between different parenting styles and EBPs from a positive psychology perspective.

RESULTS

The mean score of EBPs was 12.71 (SD = 5.77). After controlling for variables such as gender, age, left-behind children, family type and family income, resilience partially played a mediating role in the associations of paternal rejection (a × b = 0.051 BCa95%CI:0.023,0.080), maternal rejection (a × b = 0.055 BCa95%CI: 0.024, 0.086), paternal emotional warmth (a × b = -0.139 BCa95%CI: -0.182, -0.099) and maternal emotional warmth (a × b = -0.140 BCa95%CI: -0.182, -0.102), with EBPs. The effect sizes were11.28%, 11.51%, 40.76%, and 38.78%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Resilience could partially mediate the relationship between parenting style and EBPs, highlighting that parents should adopt a positive parenting style and that resilience improvement could be effective in reducing EBPs among Chinese adolescents.

The influence of parental rearing style on the incidence of panic disorder, major depressive disorder and the comorbidity among Chinese college students

BACKGROUND

Panic disorder (PD), major depressive disorder (MDD), and the comorbidity (PD&MDD) in college students have caused a heavy disease burden for individuals and families. However, little was known for the comorbidity, especially the impact of parental rearing style on the incidence of the PD&MDD comorbidity.

METHODS

A cohort study was conducted among 6652 Chinese college students. Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI-3.0) was used for disease diagnosis. The parental rearing styles were measured by the Egna Minnen Beträffande Uppfostran (EMBU) scale and factor analysis was used to reduce the dimension of the EMBU scale. Multinomial logistic regression models were used to determine the relationships between parenting styles and disease incidence. SPSS version 26.0 was used for all statistical analyses.

RESULTS

The 1-year incidence of PD, MDD, and PD&MDD comorbidity was 0.27 %, 2.04 %, and 0.21 %, respectively. Emotional warmth mode (OR = 0.753, 95%CI: 0.631-0.899, P < 0.01) were only negatively correlated with major depressive disorder. However, punishment denial mode (OR = 1.857, 95%CI: 1.316-2.620, P < 0.01) and over-participation mode (OR = 1.862, 95%CI: 1.176-2.949, P < 0.01) were positively correlated with the comorbidity of panic disorder and major depressive disorder.

LIMITATIONS

The limited follow-up period was only 1 year in this study which had impacted the collection of new onset cases.

CONCLUSIONS

Parental rearing style has a long-term influence on the psychiatric status of college students. Parenting style interventions working as the second level of mental disorder prevention will play an important role in MDD, PD and comorbidity prevention.

The emotional intelligence of today's parents - influences on parenting style and parental competence

The emotional intelligence of parents and parental competence become two premises of effective parenting. This study contributes to the understanding of how parents' emotional intelligence exerts its effect on both their parenting style and parenting competence. The present research also sought to identify the factors that determine the level of parental competence. The research method used is the questionnaire-based survey. The research sample, represented by 610 respondents, was determined by the sampling strategy based on convenience, respectively by the snowball method. The results indicated that the emotional intelligence of parents is associated with an increased level of parental competence (r = 0.24, p < 0.001), and 15% of the variability of parental competence is determined by the level of parental emotional intelligence (R = 0.38, p < 0.00, R² = 0.15). It was demonstrated that 6% of the variability of parental competence is determined by the level of parents' self-esteem (R = 0.24, p < 0.001, R² = 0.06). The emotional intelligence and self-esteem of the parents contribute to the development of a high level of parental competence, while the level of education of the respondents according to this research partially influences the development of parental competence. Despite the fact that a high educational level of parents is assumed to give them access to quality information, the Barnum effect is experienced regardless of educational level. According to the field of parenting, the Barnum effect refers to consulting non-scientifically validated sources and trusting information that responds to parents' wishes, but not to children's educational needs.These results highlight the role of parents' emotional intelligence on the growth and education of children, but also the usefulness of training programs in the field of parenting with the aim of training parents in the necessary skills for effective parenting.

Family types and parenting styles for infants in Khon Kaen province

BACKGROUND

The care of infants during their first six months is a significant matter. As there have been shifts in social and economic conditions, families are diverging into several forms. This study aimed to explore parenting styles for infants and the relation between parenting styles for infants and family types.

MATERIAL AND METHOD

This study was a cross-sectional study, focusing on the main caregivers of approximately six-month-old infants. The data was collected from February to July 2021. The research tool employed was an interview form. The collected data was then analyzed.

RESULTS

Two hundred sixty-four families of primary caregivers were included in the study. The family type most frequently found was the skipped generation family, accounting for 119 families (45%). All family types mostly practiced the uninvolved parenting style as the parenting style for infants. Regarding response to infants, most families practiced the permissive parenting style. When investigating relations between parenting style for infants and family type, it was found that skipped generation family caregivers practiced a less authoritative parenting style than the nuclear family, including holding family activities with the infant (0.16, 95%CI: 0.05-0.47); when the infant raises their voice to communicate (0.32, 95%CI: 0.14-0.71); training the infant to roll over (0.21, 95%CI: 0.06-0.69); when the infant cries (0.16, 95%CI: 0.05-0.47); and when the infant does not respond (0.19, 95%, CI: 0.05-0.74).

CONCLUSION

The most practiced parenting style for infants among all the three family types was the uninvolved parenting style. Regarding the response to infants, the permissive parenting style was mostly observed.

Association between Physical Fitness Index and Psychological Symptoms in Chinese Children and Adolescents

The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between different physical fitness indices (PFIs) and psychological symptoms and each dimension (emotional symptoms, behavioral symptoms, social adaptation difficulties) of Chinese children and adolescents. Methods: A total of 7199 children and adolescents aged 13−18 in Jiangxi Province, China, were tested for grip strength, standing long jump, sit-ups, sit and reach, repeated straddling, 50 m run, 20 m shuttle run test (20 m SRT) items. The physical fitness indicators were standardized, converted to Z score and added up to obtain the PFI, and the self-assessment of the psychological section of the multidimensional sub-health questionnaire of adolescents (MSQA) to test the psychological symptoms, using the chi-square test to determine the psychological symptoms of different types of children and adolescents and binary logistic regression analysis to determine the association between psychological symptoms and different PFI grades. Results: The higher the PFI of Chinese children and adolescents, the lower the detection rate of psychological symptoms, emotional symptoms and social adaptation difficulties, from 25.0% to 18.4%, 31.3% to 25.7% and 20.1% to 14.4%, respectively. These results were statistically significant (χ2 = 14.073, 9.332, 12.183, p < 0.05). Taking the high-grade PFI as a reference, binary logistic regression analysis was performed. Generally, compared with the high-grade PFI, children and adolescents with a low-grade PFI (OR = 1.476, 95% CI: 1.200−1.814) or medium-grade PFI (OR = 1.195, 95% CI: 1.010−1.413) had a higher risk of psychological symptoms (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The lower the PFI of Chinese children and adolescents, the higher the detection rate of psychological symptoms, showing a negative correlation. In the future, measures should be taken to improve the physical fitness level of children and adolescents in order to reduce the incidence of psychological symptoms and promote the healthy development of children and adolescents.

Family Connection and Flourishing Among Adolescents in 26 Countries

OBJECTIVES

To determine whether higher levels of family connection are associated with a greater prevalence of flourishing in adolescence.

METHODS

We analyzed cross-sectional data from the International Survey of Children's Well-Being collected in 26 countries between 2016 and 2019 from 11- to 13-year-olds. Family connection was based on a mean score of 5 items that asked about care, support, safety, respect, and participation using a Likert-type scale (range 0-4). Flourishing was based on a mean score of 6 items that asked about self-acceptance, purpose in life, positive relations with others, personal growth, environmental mastery, and autonomy using a Likert-type scale (range 0-10). A mean score of >8 was considered flourishing.

RESULTS

The analysis involved 37 025 of 39 286 (94.2%) adolescents, after excluding those with missing data. The mean (SD) age was 11.9 (0.6) years and 51.4% were girls. The prevalence (95% confidence interval) of flourishing was 65.8% (65.3-66.3). Adolescents were distributed across 5 increasing levels of the family connection score: <2.5 (11.2%), 2.5 to <3.0 (8.8%), 3.0 to <3.5 (24.2%), 3.5 to <4.0 (25.1%), and 4.0 (30.7%). After controlling for covariates, including material resources and food sufficiency, the prevalence (95% confidence interval) of flourishing increased across the 5 levels of increasing family connection: 34.9% (33.3-36.5), 45.0% (43.2-46.8), 58.2% (57.2-59.3), 72.6% (71.6-73.5), and 84.3% (83.6-85.1), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Among adolescents from 26 countries, greater family connection was associated with a higher prevalence of flourishing. Family connection may contribute to flourishing, not just the avoidance of negative outcomes.

Emotional Regulation in Parental Optimism—The Influence of Parenting Style

This study contributes to determining the relationship between parental emotional regulation, optimism, and parenting style. The responses collected from respondents with parental status were used in the research. The majority of respondents were female; in terms of the age of participants, they were predominantly in the category of 31–40 years, followed by those in the category 41–50 years. The data were analyzed statistically through operations such as correlations, regression, and analysis of variance. The results indicate that the authoritative parenting style is associated with the emotional regulation of parents (r = 0.25, p < 0.001), but also with their level of optimism (r = 0.29, p < 0.001). It has been demonstrated both through correlations and through confirmatory factor analysis that optimism and emotional regulation are two factors that contribute to the adoption of the authoritative parenting style. The analysis of variance indicated that the emotional regulation of the parents does not vary according to their age. Based on multiple linear regression, it was established that 5% of parents’ level of optimism is predicted by their level of emotional regulation. These new results reveal the contribution of emotional regulation and parental optimism in the process of raising and educating a child.

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.

Family Resilience, Parenting Styles and Psychosocial Adjustment of Children With Chronic Illness: A Cross-Sectional Study

Objectives: To evaluate the level of parent-reported family resilience, parenting styles and psychosocial adjustment of children with chronic illness and to identify the relationships between family resilience, parenting styles and psychosocial adjustment in families with children with chronic illness. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between June 2019 and August 2019. A total of 236 parents of children with chronic illness and 98 parents with healthy children were recruited from general hospitals by convenience sampling. A parent completed the Chinese Family Resilience Assessment Scale, the Parenting Rearing Patterns Questionnaire and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Family resilience, parenting styles, and psychosocial adjustment of children with chronic illness were compared with those of healthy children. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was performed to explore the mediation effect of parenting styles between family resilience and psychosocial adjustment among children with chronic illness. Results: Parents of children with chronic illness reported lower level of family resilience and authoritative parenting, but more peer relationship problems compared to parents of healthy children. SEM showed that authoritative parenting fully mediated the relationship between family resilience and psychosocial adjustment of children with chronic illness. Conclusion: Childhood chronic illness reduces family resilience, authoritative parenting and children's psychosocial adjustment, but authoritative parenting mediated these effects, so authoritative parenting may be important for family resilience in families of children with chronic illness. Pediatric clinicians and nurses should provide family-centered interventions, as well as parenting training, to improve children's psychosocial outcomes.