Relations between parental response to children's negative emotions and suicidal ideation in chinese adolescents: Internalizing problems, emotion regulation, and perceived relationship quality with parents as mediators

Ruyi Ding; Nini Wu; Suqin Tang; Tuo Liu; Wei Li; Shiguang Ni

doi:10.1016/j.jad.2022.01.043

Relations between parental response to children's negative emotions and suicidal ideation in chinese adolescents: Internalizing problems, emotion regulation, and perceived relationship quality with parents as mediators

J Affect Disord. 2022 Mar 15:301:205-216. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2022.01.043. Epub 2022 Jan 13.

Authors

Ruyi Ding¹, Nini Wu², Suqin Tang³, Tuo Liu⁴, Wei Li⁵, Shiguang Ni⁶

Affiliations

¹ Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University, Nanshan, Shenzhen, China.
² School of Education, Guangdong University of Education, Guangzhou, China.
³ School of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China.
⁴ Department of Psychology, Division for Psychological Methods and Statistics, Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, Germany.
⁵ Department of Education, Huanggang Normal University, Hubei, China.
⁶ Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University, Nanshan, Shenzhen, China. Electronic address: ni.shiguang@sz.tsinghua.edu.cn.

PMID: 35033594
DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2022.01.043

Abstract

Past work points to the crucial role of parents' responses to children's negative emotions (PRCNE) in adolescents' socioemotional adjustment. The presence of suicidal ideation (SI) is an important sign of significant distress and suicide risk. However, research on the relations between PRCNE and adolescents' SI is lacking. This research aimed to investigate whether parental reactions to children's negative emotions (PRCNE) was related to adolescents' SI and, if so, through which processes. This research utilized data from a sample of Chinese adolescent families (N = 4,574; Parents: 35.81% males, M = 44.07 years old; Adolescents: 55.40% males, M = 16.28 years old), with parents giving their reports on PRCNE and adolescents self-evaluating their psychosocial development (i.e., internalizing problems, emotion regulation, perceived relationship quality with parents) and SI. We examined the relations between six types of PRCNE and adolescents' SI, and analyzed the mediating roles of adolescents' internalizing problems, emotion regulation (i.e., cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression), and perceived relationship quality with parents. The results showed that emotion-focused response, problem-focused response, and expression encouragement negatively predicted, while punitive response and distress response positively predicted adolescents' SI. However, no statistically significant association emerged between minimization and adolescents' SI. Moreover, adolescents' internalizing problems, usage of expressive suppression, and perceived relationship quality with parents could mediate the relations between PRCNE and adolescents' SI. Contrary to our hypothesis, the results did not support an indirect effect of PRCNE on adolescents' SI through adolescents' cognitive reappraisal. The present research illuminates adolescents' SI by emphasizing the roles of PRCNE. The findings also highlight the importance of paying attention to adolescents' internalizing problems, expressive suppression, and perceived relationship quality with parents in relation to PRCNE in interventions aimed at reducing adolescents' SI.

Keywords: Adolescence; Emotion socialization; Parental response to children's negative emotions; Suicidal ideation.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Child
China
Emotional Regulation*
Emotions / physiology
Female
Humans
Male
Parent-Child Relations
Parents / psychology
Suicidal Ideation