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Review
. 2025 Apr 30:16:1514024.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1514024. eCollection 2025.

How parental depression influences the development of adolescent depression: based on data from China family panel studies

Ruyue Zhai  1 , Shaoqing Yang  1
Affiliations
Review

How parental depression influences the development of adolescent depression: based on data from China family panel studies

Ruyue Zhai et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

Background: Previous studies on the impact of paternal and maternal depression on adolescent depression have shown inconsistent findings, and none have examined the influence of parental depression trajectories on adolescent depression trajectories. This study aims to explore the natural developmental patterns of paternal, maternal, and adolescent depression, as well as the predictive effects of parental depression trajectories on adolescent depression trajectories through a longitudinal survey.

Methods: Based on the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), a total of 1,378 adolescents and their parents were ultimately included in the study. The adolescents and their parents underwent up to three waves of assessments, with each wave separated by 2 years, spanning 6 years (from 2016 to 2020). Latent Growth Modeling (LGM) was used to examine the developmental trajectories of paternal, maternal, and adolescent depression, and the predictive effects of parental depression trajectories on adolescent depression trajectories.

Results: The results of the Latent Growth Curve Analysis revealed an upward trend in the longitudinal measurement of paternal depression (β = 0.483, p < 0.001) and adolescent depression (β = 0.318, p < 0.001), while maternal depression showed a downward trend (β = -0.340, p = 0.015). The results of the parallel process model indicated that the intercept and slope of paternal depression significantly predicted the intercept and slope of adolescent depression, respectively (βIntercept = 0.169, p = 0.015; βSlope = 0.488, p = 0.008). However, the intercept of paternal depression did not significantly predict the slope of adolescent depression (β = 0.129, p > 0.05). Similarly, the intercept and slope of maternal depression significantly predicted the intercept and slope of adolescent depression, respectively (βIntercept = 0.253, p < 0.001; βSlope = 0.371, p = 0.006). The intercept of maternal depression did not significantly predict the slope of adolescent depression (β = 0.033, p > 0.05).

Conclusion: Both paternal and maternal depression should be given equal attention. The developmental trajectories of both paternal and maternal depression influence the developmental trajectory of adolescent depression.

Keywords: adolescent depression; development trajectory; latent growth analysis; maternal depression; paternal depression.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Gender and SES on adolescent depression trajectories. Path coefficients are standardized estimates; Intercept, adolescent depression intercept; Slope, adolescent depression slope; *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Directional prediction between paternal depression and adolescent depression. Path coefficients are standardized estimates; I1, paternal depression intercept; S1, paternal depression slope; I2, adolescent depression intercept; S2, adolescent depression slope; *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Directional prediction between maternal depression and adolescent depression. Path coefficients are standardized estimates; I1, maternal depression intercept; S1, maternal depression slope; I2, adolescent depression intercept; S2, adolescent depression slope; *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.
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