Interplay of Adolescents' and Parents' Mindsets of Socioeconomic Status on Adolescents' Stress-Related Outcomes

Shan Zhao; Hongfei Du; Lihua Chen; Peilian Chi

doi:10.1007/s10964-024-01975-y

Interplay of Adolescents' and Parents' Mindsets of Socioeconomic Status on Adolescents' Stress-Related Outcomes

J Youth Adolesc. 2024 Jun;53(6):1287-1300. doi: 10.1007/s10964-024-01975-y. Epub 2024 Apr 5.

Authors

Shan Zhao¹, Hongfei Du^{2

3}, Lihua Chen⁴, Peilian Chi^{5

6}

Affiliations

¹ School of Public Health, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
² Department of Psychology, Beijing Normal University at Zhuhai, Zhuhai, China.
³ Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education (Beijing Normal University), Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
⁴ Higher Education Research Institute, Shantou University, Shantou, China.
⁵ Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China. peilianchi@um.edu.mo.
⁶ Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China. peilianchi@um.edu.mo.

PMID: 38580892
DOI: 10.1007/s10964-024-01975-y

Abstract

The reciprocity and variation of values and beliefs are dynamic features of the parent-child relationship. Parents and adolescents may hold congruent or incongruent views regarding the malleability of socioeconomic status (mindset of SES), potentially influencing adolescents' psychological and physiological stress outcomes, as reflected in stress perceptions and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis functioning. The current study investigated how patterns of parent-adolescent congruence and incongruence in mindset of SES were associated with adolescents' perceived stress and diurnal cortisol patterns four months later. A total of 253 adolescents (M_age = 12.60, 46.2% girls) and their parents (M_age = 40.09 years, 59.5% mothers) participated in this study. Polynomial regression analyses and response surface analyses showed that adolescents perceived lower levels of stress when they themselves or their parents reported a stronger growth mindset of SES. Additionally, adolescents with a stronger growth mindset of SES also exhibited a steeper diurnal cortisol slope. Moreover, parents' mindset significantly interacted with adolescents' mindset to influence adolescents' diurnal cortisol patterns such that when adolescents hold weaker growth mindset of SES, those with higher parental growth mindsets had significantly higher cortisol awakening response and steeper diurnal cortisol slope. Furthermore, adolescents who showed incongruence with their parents but had averagely stronger growth mindsets of SES reported a significantly steeper diurnal cortisol slope than those who had averagely weaker growth mindsets with their parents. The findings point to the beneficial impacts of the growth mindset of SES on stress-related outcomes among adolescents, as well as the significance of considering both parents' and adolescents' mindsets when exploring these associations.

Keywords: Diurnal cortisol; Mindset of SES; Parent-adolescent congruence; Perceived stress; Response surface analysis.

Publication types

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

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adolescent Behavior / psychology
Adult
Child
Female
Humans
Hydrocortisone* / analysis
Hydrocortisone* / metabolism
Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System
Male
Parent-Child Relations*
Parents / psychology
Pituitary-Adrenal System
Saliva / chemistry
Social Class*
Stress, Psychological* / psychology

Substances

Hydrocortisone

Grants and funding

0095/2022/AFJ/the Science and Technology Development Fund