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. 2025 Jun 13:18:1403-1422.
doi: 10.2147/PRBM.S525764. eCollection 2025.

Relationship Between Cross-Generational Coalitions and Depression Among Chinese College Students: The Chain Mediating Roles of Self-Differentiation and Interpersonal Adaptation

Cong Peng  1 , Yan Shen  1 , Zhenyun Zhang  2 , Hongqun Chen  3 , Shasha Ye  4 , Yuanyuan Li  1 , Ying Zhang  1 , Qingqing Ren  1
Affiliations

Relationship Between Cross-Generational Coalitions and Depression Among Chinese College Students: The Chain Mediating Roles of Self-Differentiation and Interpersonal Adaptation

Cong Peng et al. Psychol Res Behav Manag. .

Abstract

Background: Research has demonstrated a significant association between cross-generational coalitions and children's emotional well-being. However, the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain unclear, and prior studies have predominantly treated cross-generational coalitions as a singular construct, neglecting the varied impacts and pathways of different types of cross-generational coalitions on college students' depression.

Purpose: Grounded in family systems theory, this study investigates the relationships and distinct underlying mechanisms linking three forms of cross-generational coalitions (coalition with fathers, coalition with mothers, and unstable coalition) to depression among college students, focusing on the chain mediating roles of self-differentiation and interpersonal adaptation.

Methods: A total of 493 Chinese college students aged 17-25 years (55.2% male) completed anonymous questionnaires. The PROCESS macro Model 6 and bootstrap methods were employed to analyze the chain mediating effects of self-differentiation and interpersonal adaptation between cross-generational coalitions and college students' depression.

Results: Each type of cross-generational coalition exhibited a significant indirect association with depression via the chain mediation of self-differentiation and interpersonal adaptation. Moreover, while all coalition types impacted college students' depression through the mediating effect of self-differentiation, only stable coalition with fathers influenced depression through the mediating effect of interpersonal adaptation.

Conclusion: This study highlights that three types of cross-generational coalitions can affect college students' depression through the chain mediation of self-differentiation and interpersonal adaptation. Notably, in comparison to coalition with mothers and unstable coalitions, coalition with fathers reveal distinct indirect pathways influencing depression. The study revealed the differential impacts of father-child and mother-child coalitions in a collectivist society, which significantly extend Bowenian family systems theory and attachment theory by elucidating the nuanced pathways through which cross-generational coalitions influence depression in college students. These findings deepen our understanding of how various forms of cross-generational coalitions serve as familial factors impacting the emotional well-being of Chinese college students.

Keywords: chain mediation effect; college students; cross-generational coalitions; depression; interpersonal adaptation; self-differentiation.

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Conflict of interest statement

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there are no conflicts of interest. This manuscript was approved by all authors for submission and publication.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The proposed chain mediating model.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The chain mediating effects of variables between CWF and Depression.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The chain mediating effects of variables between CWM and Depression.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The chain mediating effects of variables between UC and Depression.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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