Institute for Population and Development Studies, School of Public Policy and Administration, Xi'an Jiaotong University, No.28, Xianning West Road, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, 710049, PR China.
Public Health. 2020 Sep;186:110-115. doi: 10.1016/j.puhe.2020.06.026. Epub 2020 Aug 12.
This study examined the association between changing family relationships (marital relationships and parent-child relationships) and adolescents' mental health in transitional China. It further explored the potential moderating role of living arrangements in the abovementioned associations.
The study design used in the study is a longitudinal study.
Data were derived from wave 1 (academic year: 2013-2014, grade 7) and wave 2 (academic year: 2014-2015, grade 8) of the China Education Panel Survey (CEPS). We used fixed-effects models in the longitudinal data analysis (N = 7237).
Descriptive analysis indicated significant changes in both adolescents' mental health and self-reported family relationships during the transition from grade 7 to grade 8. The fixed-effects models showed that high marital quality and close parent-child relationships improved the mental health of adolescents. Interaction analysis suggested that paternal living arrangements significantly moderated the association between the father-child relationships and adolescents' mental health: effects of the father-child relationships were weaker among those living away from their biological fathers than among those living with their biological fathers.
Family relationships play an important role in shaping Chinese adolescents' psychological status. However, the effect of the father-child relationships varies based on the paternal living arrangements. This finding highlights the importance of considering the context in examining the effects of family relationships on adolescents' well-being.
本研究考察了转型期中国家庭关系（婚姻关系和亲子关系）变化与青少年心理健康之间的关系，并进一步探讨了生活安排在上述关联中的潜在调节作用。
本研究采用的研究设计是纵向研究。
数据来自中国教育追踪调查（CEPS）的第 1 波（学年：2013-2014 年，7 年级）和第 2 波（学年：2014-2015 年，8 年级）。我们在纵向数据分析中使用了固定效应模型（N=7237）。
描述性分析表明，在 7 年级到 8 年级的过渡期间，青少年的心理健康和自我报告的家庭关系都发生了显著变化。固定效应模型显示，较高的婚姻质量和密切的亲子关系改善了青少年的心理健康。交互分析表明，父亲的生活安排显著调节了亲子关系与青少年心理健康之间的关系：与与亲生父亲生活在一起的青少年相比，与亲生父亲分开生活的青少年，亲子关系的影响较弱。
家庭关系在塑造中国青少年的心理状态方面起着重要作用。然而，亲子关系的影响因父亲的生活安排而异。这一发现强调了在考察家庭关系对青少年幸福感的影响时，考虑背景的重要性。
