School of Government, Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, 7989 Waiqingsong Road, Qingpu District, Shanghai 201701, China.
Child Abuse Negl. 2023 Sep;143:106280. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2023.106280. Epub 2023 Jun 7.
The prevalence of depression among children has dramatically increased since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Through focusing on verbal fights, the most common form of family conflict, this study examined the association between interparental conflict and children's depression and explored the mediating role of parent-child conflict.
A total of 1005 children (47.0 % females) aged between 9 and 12 years old constituted the analytical subjects, who had been drawn from the 2020 survey of the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS).
Descriptive statistics were obtained, and bivariate correlation analysis and mediation analysis were performed.
According to the Spearman correlation analysis, interparental conflict and children's depression were positively correlated (ρ = 0.214, p < 0.01); moreover, parent-child conflict was significantly positively associated with both interparental conflict (ρ = 0.450, p < 0.01) and children's depression (ρ = 0.224, p < 0.01). Additionally, mediation analysis demonstrated that, after controlling for sociodemographic factors, parent-child conflict operated as a mediator between interparental conflict and children's depression. More specifically, parent-child conflict accounted for 47.6 % of the total effect of interparental conflict on children's depression.
These findings suggested that frequent conflicts between parents predicted increased parent-child conflict, which, in turn, elevated the risk of depression for children. To reduce the risk of children's depression, it is necessary to create a good environment and build a harmonious relationship within the family. At the same time, specific supportive services, such as family therapy, filial therapy, and couple relationship education, should be provided.
自 COVID-19 大流行以来，儿童抑郁的患病率显著增加。
本研究通过关注最常见的家庭冲突形式——言语冲突，探讨了父母冲突与儿童抑郁之间的关系，并探讨了亲子冲突的中介作用。
共有 1005 名 9 至 12 岁的儿童（47.0%为女性）构成了分析对象，他们来自 2020 年中国家庭追踪调查（CFPS）。
进行描述性统计分析，并进行了双变量相关分析和中介分析。
根据 Spearman 相关分析，父母冲突与儿童抑郁呈正相关（ρ=0.214，p<0.01）；此外，亲子冲突与父母冲突（ρ=0.450，p<0.01）和儿童抑郁（ρ=0.224，p<0.01）均呈显著正相关。此外，中介分析表明，在控制了社会人口学因素后，亲子冲突在父母冲突与儿童抑郁之间起中介作用。更具体地说，亲子冲突解释了父母冲突对儿童抑郁总效应的 47.6%。
这些发现表明，父母之间的频繁冲突预示着亲子冲突的增加，而亲子冲突反过来又增加了儿童患抑郁的风险。为了降低儿童患抑郁的风险，有必要营造良好的家庭环境，建立和谐的家庭关系。同时，应提供具体的支持性服务，如家庭治疗、亲子治疗和夫妻关系教育。
