Relation between parental psychological control and depressive symptoms among secondary school students: the pathway of negative perfectionism and academic stress

BackgroundDepression is a prevalent emotional problem in adolescents, and parental psychological control is an important predictor of adolescent depression. However, existing research on the acting mechanism between the two is not adequate.ObjectiveTo explore the pathway of negative perfectionism an...

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Main Authors: Zeng Haiping, Zhou Qiang, Fang Yuan, Niu Hongli, Ren Yanzhen
Format: Article
Language:zho
Published: Editorial Office of Sichuan Mental Health 2025-02-01
Series:Sichuan jingshen weisheng
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Online Access:http://www.psychjm.net.cn/scjswszzen/ch/reader/view_abstract.aspx?file_no=202501012&flag=1
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Summary:BackgroundDepression is a prevalent emotional problem in adolescents, and parental psychological control is an important predictor of adolescent depression. However, existing research on the acting mechanism between the two is not adequate.ObjectiveTo explore the pathway of negative perfectionism and academic stress between parental psychological control and depressive symptoms among secondary school students, so as to provide references for reducing the incidence risk of depression in such population.MethodsFrom February to April 2023, 1 100 students across 2 middle schools and 2 high schools in Zhongshan city were selected as subjects. The survey was conducted adopting Parental Psychological Control Questionnaire, Chinese Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (CFMPS), sense of academic stress subscale in Mental Health Inventory of Middle School Student (MMHI-60) and Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D). Spearman correlation analysis was adopted to examine the correlation between scores of all scales above, and Amos 24.0 was used to test the mediating path of negative perfectionism and academic stress between parental psychological control and depressive symptoms among secondary school students.ResultsAmong the 1 009 valid questionnaires withdrew (91.73% of the total), 261 students were detected to have depressive symptoms (25.87%). As the results of Spearman correlation analysis showed, the scores of the Parental Psychological Control Questionnaire, score of negative perfectionism dimension in CFMPS, score of sense of academic stress subscale in MMHI-60 and CES-D score were positively correlated with each other (r=0.323~0.644, P<0.05 or 0.01). The direct effect value of parental psychological control on depressive symptoms in secondary school students was 0.128 (95% CI: 0.061~0.201), accounting for 31.37% of the total effect. Negative perfectionism and academic stress played independently as intermediatory roles between parental psychological control and depressive symptoms in secondary school students, and the indirect effect values were 0.099 (95% CI: 0.068~0.133) and 0.100 (95% CI: 0.060~0.143), accounting for 24.27% and 24.51% of the total effect, respectively. Negative perfectionism and academic stress acted combinedly as the chain effect pathway between parental psychological control and depressve symptoms in secondary school students, with the indirect effect value of 0.081 (95% CI: 0.060~0.106) accounting for 19.85% of the total effect.ConclusionParental psychological control can affect the depressive symptoms among secondary school students directly, and through independent or chain paths of negative perfectionism and academic stress indirectly. [Funded by Zhongshan Social Welfare Technology Research Project (number, 2022B1060)]
ISSN:1007-3256