Are there reciprocal interplays among Chinese adolescents’, fathers’, and mothers’ depression at the within-family level? A family systems perspective.

Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science, Vol 133(2), Feb 2024, 140-154; doi:10.1037/abn0000883Controversy surrounds the reciprocity between adolescent and parental depression. Limited studies rigorously tested the transactional model of depression from a family systems perspective considering the involvement of all family members, particularly in non-Western nations, using advanced modeling approaches that disentangle between- and within-unit (i.e., family) variances (e.g., random intercept cross-lagged panel model [RI-CLPM]). This population-based multi-informant longitudinal study applied RI-CLPM to evaluate the temporal dynamics of the interrelations among adolescent, maternal, and paternal depression in 1,733 Chinese families assessed biannually. Findings from two large independent samples (primary sample [N = 1,733]; replication sample [N = 989]) converged to suggest, in macro timescales: (a) more depressed parents—especially mothers—generally have more depressed adolescents (between-family associations); (b) a family member becoming more depressed than usual co-occurred with other members becoming more depressed than usual in the same wave (within-family cofluctuations), with the mother–adolescent dyads exhibiting greater concordance than the father–adolescent dyads; and (c) a family member becoming more depressed than usual did not prospectively predict other members becoming more depressed than usual (i.e., no within-family reciprocal effects). While p...
Source: Journal of Abnormal Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research