Objective: To compare the difference of mental health( anxiety, depression, loneliness, self-esteem, self-confidence, family life satisfaction) and the role of raising people's identity in happiness relationship between two-parents family children and single parent family children by propensity score matching( PSM).
Methods: Datafrom Social Adaptation Database of National Children 's Study of China. Stratified and population-based cluster random sampling method was used to sample, a total of 23 499 subjects were 6-15 year-old children coming from 31 provinces of 100 districts and counties in mainland China. Then the PSM method was used to match 1203 children from two-parents and single parent family children. The data were analyzed by difference tests, variance analysis and regression analysis.
Results: There were significant differences in depression( 4. 46 ± 3. 234 vs. 5. 29 ± 3. 808, P < 0. 001, d =-0. 237), self-esteem( 27. 15 ± 4. 303 vs. 26. 05 ± 4. 838, P < 0. 001, d = 0. 241) and family life satisfaction( 3. 23 ± 0. 570 vs. 3. 02 ± 0. 699, P < 0. 001, d = 0. 333) between two-parents and single parent family children in the condition of non-parental support after PSM. The effect of dependent status on depression, family life satisfaction and well-being was statistically significant for the two-parents family children( β = 0. 229, β =-0. 239, P < 0. 05). The simple slope test showed that the negative predictive effect of non-parental group on happiness was higher than that of parental group when depression was the independent variable and well-being was the dependent variable( parental group: simple slope =-0. 393, t =-28. 98, P < 0. 001; non-parental group: simple slope =-0. 321, t =-13. 68, P < 0. 001). The positive predictive effect of parental group on well-being was higher than that of non-parental group when family life satisfaction was the independent variable and well-being was dependent variable( parental group: simple slope = 1. 474, t = 15. 78, P < 0. 001; non-parental group: simple slope = 1. 024, t = 7. 03, P < 0. 001).
Conclusion: The mental health of two-parents family children is better than that of single parent family children, and children of non-parental supporters have more mental health disparity than that of parental supporters. Their family life satisfaction and depression have a greater sense of effect on happiness for two-parents family children of parental supporter.
Keywords: happiness; mental health; propensity score matching; single parent family.