The Relationship between Interparental Conflict and Depressive symptoms Spanning from Childhood to Youth: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Previous studies have presented diverse perspectives and inconsistent findings regarding the relationship between interparental conflict and depressive symptoms. The current study aimed to clarify the overall strength of the association between interparental conflict and depressive symptoms and its influencing factors. By analyzing 89 retrieved studies (106 effect sizes, 64462 participants) through a random-effects mode. It was found that there was a significant positive correlation between interparental conflict and depressive symptoms, with a large effect size (r = 0.32, 95% CI [0.30, 0.35]). Additionally, measurement tools and reporter of parental conflict, sampling year, and individualism index significantly moderated this association. Specifically, the correlation between interparental conflict measured by Children's Perception of Interparental Conflict Scale and depressive symptoms is stronger than that measured by other scales. Compared with self-reported parental conflict, parental-reported parental conflict has a weaker correlation with depressive symptoms. The more recent the sampling year, the stronger the correlation, while the higher the individualism index, the weaker the correlation. This meta-analysis indicates that interparental conflict is a significant risk factor for depressive symptoms in children and adolescents. Over time, especially in countries with a lower individualism index, focusing on reducing interparental conflict could help decrease the incidence of depressive symptoms in children, adolescents and youth.