The Relationship Between Parent-Adolescent Communication and Depressive Symptoms: The Roles of School Life Experience, Learning Difficulties and Confidence in the Future

Runnan Wang,1 Dong Li,2 Jiwei Zhang,1 Guirong Song,1 Qigui Liu,1 Xiao Tang1 1School of Public Health, Dalian Medical University, Dalian City, Liaoning Province, People’s Republic of China; 2School of Marxism, Dalian Ocean University, Dalian City, Liaoning Province, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Xiao Tang, School of Public Health, Dalian Medical University, Dalian City, Liaoning Province, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86-411-86110328, Email miss_tang@163.comPurpose: Adolescent depression has become a public health issue in China. Family environment and school life play important roles in shaping adolescent mental health. Our study aimed to examine the effect of parent-adolescent communication, school-life experiences, learning difficulties, and confidence in the future on depressive symptoms. We also examined the mediating effects of school-life experiences, learning difficulties, and confidence in the future on the relationship between parent-adolescent communication and depressive symptoms.Methods: Data on depressive symptoms, parent-adolescent communication, and mediating variables were obtained from the China Education Panel Survey (CEPS), including baseline data (2013– 2014) and follow-up data (2014– 2015). Mixed-effect models were used to evaluate the effects of parent-adolescent communication, school-life experiences, learning difficulties, and confidence in the future on depressive symptoms, and path analyses were performed to determine the mediating roles of school-life experiences, learning difficulties, and confidence in the future on the relationship between parent-adolescent communication and adolescent depressive symptoms.Results: More father-adolescent communication, better school-life experiences, and higher confidence in the future were protective factors for depressive symptoms among all boys and girls, and learning difficulties were a risk factor for depressive symptoms among all boys and girls. School-life experiences, learning difficulties, and confidence in the future had statistically significant mediating effects on the relationship between parent-adolescent communication and depressive symptoms.Conclusion: More father-adolescent communication, higher confidence in the future, better school-life experiences, and fewer academic difficulties were associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms. Both mother-adolescent communication and father-adolescent communication affected depressive symptoms through their effects on school-life experience, learning difficulties, and confidence in the future. This finding highlighted the importance of parent-adolescent communication and its impact on depression.Keywords: depression, communication, adolescent, CEPS