Transactional processes among perceived parental warmth, positivity, and depressive symptoms from middle childhood to early adolescence: Disentangling between- and within-person associations

Jiaping Yang; Qiulian Wu; Jianhua Zhou; E Scott Huebner; Lili Tian

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115090

Transactional processes among perceived parental warmth, positivity, and depressive symptoms from middle childhood to early adolescence: Disentangling between- and within-person associations

Soc Sci Med. 2022 Jul:305:115090. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115090. Epub 2022 May 29.

Authors

Jiaping Yang¹, Qiulian Wu¹, Jianhua Zhou¹, E Scott Huebner², Lili Tian³

Affiliations

¹ Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, 510631, China; School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China.
² Department of Psychology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA.
³ Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, 510631, China. Electronic address: paipaishu@163.com.

PMID: 35660693
DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115090

Abstract

Rationale: Previous cross-sectional and unidirectional longitudinal studies have investigated the associations among perceived parental warmth, positivity, and depressive symptoms among children and adolescents without distinguishing between-person effects from within-person effects.

Objective: The current study aimed to examine the dynamic longitudinal associations among perceived parental warmth, positivity, and depressive symptoms, including whether positivity functioned as a mediator of the reciprocal relations between perceived maternal/paternal warmth and depressive symptoms at the within-person level encompassing middle childhood to early adolescence.

Methods: A sample of 3765 Chinese students (45.8% girls; M age = 9.92 years, SD = 0.72; range = 9-12 years at Time 1) completed self-report measures on 4 occasions across 2 years, using 6-month intervals. Random-Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Models were employed to disentangle between- and within-person effects.

Results: (a) Perceived maternal/paternal warmth and depressive symptoms reciprocally and negatively predicted each other; (b) positivity and depressive symptoms reciprocally and negatively predicted each other; (c) perceived maternal/paternal warmth and positivity reciprocally and positively predicted each other; (d) depressive symptoms indirectly predicted perceived maternal/paternal warmth via positivity; (e) perceived maternal warmth displayed earlier and more stable effects on positivity and depressive symptoms than perceived paternal warmth; and (f), no childhood sex differences existed in the observed associations.

Conclusions: These findings highlight the longitudinal within-person transactions among perceived parental warmth, positivity, and depressive symptoms, and the differential roles of perceived maternal/paternal warmth. These findings may help provide a potential theoretical framework through which to precisely identify objectives for early intervention.

Keywords: Depressive symptoms; Perceived parental warmth; Positivity; Random-intercept cross-lagged panel models; Transactional processes.

Publication types

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

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Child
Cross-Sectional Studies
Depression* / epidemiology
Fathers
Female
Humans
Infant
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Parent-Child Relations*