The Influence of Parental Relationships on Anxiety and Depression

Among Adolescents

Meiyao Li

Beijing 21st Century School, Beijing, 100000, China

Keywords: Parental Relationships, Adolescents, Anxiety, Depression, Mental Health.

Abstract: In the context of the rapidly developing society, adolescents are facing mounting pressures, which often lead

to anxiety and depression. This paper focuses on analyzing how parental relationships impact adolescent

anxiety and depression. Studies with diverse research subjects, sampling methods, measurement tools, and

data-analysis techniques are reviewed. The results indicate that family dynamics are closely related to

adolescent mental health, and family socio-demographic characteristics affect it indirectly. A positive

parenting style can reduce adolescent depressive symptoms, while negative ones and parental depression may

increase them. Poor parental relationships are associated with higher risks of anxiety and depression. In

conclusion, parental relationships play a crucial role in adolescent mental health. Efforts should be made at

family, school, and social levels, and research designs need continuous improvement. For future research, in

addition to promoting longitudinal or experimental research, expanding sample selection, optimizing

measurement methods, and comprehensively considering more potential factors, researchers could also look

into the role of cultural nuances in the relationship between parental relationships and adolescent mental health.

Different cultures may have distinct parenting norms and family values that influence this connection, and

understanding these aspects could lead to more targeted interventions and support for adolescents.

1 INTRODUCTION

Recently, the rapidly developed society has given

adolescents multiple pressures from academics,

social, family, etc. This pressure causes adolescents to

get anxious and depressed, which negatively impacts

their daily life and academic performance, even

leading to suicide in severe cases. Therefore,

exploring what factors affect mental health among

adolescents will help to alleviate this trend. For a long

time, family has been regarded as an essential

determinant in shaping and influencing adolescents'

mental health. A harmonious family environment can

contribute to cultivating positive mental states, while

an unhealthy family environment, such as parental

discord or inappropriate upbringing, can harm their

mental health. Recently, an increasing number of

research has focused on studying how parental

relationships influence adolescents’ depression and

anxiety. For example, a study in Salamanca, Spain,

shows that family relationships affect adolescents,

with sound ones reducing anxiety and strained ones

increasing it. Similarly, a study in Harbin, China,

which focused on depression, discovered the link

between dysfunctional parent-child relationships and

adolescent depression, both providing insights into the

influence on adolescent mental health. These studies

approach this subject matter from diverse standpoints,

regions, and methodologies, all of which emphasize

the significance of healthy parent-child relationships

for adolescent mental health. At the same time, it also

demonstrates the necessity for further in-depth

exploration.

This article conducts a literature review to analyze

the impact of parent-child relationships on adolescent

anxiety and depression, provides scientific evidence

for enhancing adolescent mental health, and offers

proof to assist families and society in better

understanding and addressing adolescent mental

health concerns.

2 AN OVERVIEW OF

ADOLESCENT ANXIETY AND

DEPRESSION

2.1 Concept Introduction

Adolescents are individuals within the 13 to 19 age

478

Li, M.

The Inﬂuence of Parental Relationships on Anxiety and Depression Among Adolescents.

DOI: 10.5220/0014136700004942

Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Applied Psychology and Marketing Management (APMM 2025), pages 478-487

ISBN: 978-989-758-791-7

range. They get significant changes during this

period. These changes can be physical, cognitive,

emotional, and social. Physiologically, adolescence is

a period of rapid growth, unstable hormone levels,

and gradual emergence of secondary sexual

characteristics. They will also develop more complex

abstract thinking patterns and skills that include

advanced logical reasoning and problem-solving.

Emotionally, their emotions are intense and

changeable during this stage.

Teenagers are at risk of mental health troubles,

mainly anxiety and depression. This has been a rising

trend in recent years. Anxiety often shows as non-stop

worrying, being scared, and feeling nervous. The

common kinds are generalized anxiety, social

anxiety, and panic disorder. Depression has signs like

a long-lasting low mood, being tired or sluggish,

losing interest in things once liked, having sleep

issues (too much or too little), changes in eating,

feeling bad about oneself and guilty, losing self-

confidence, difficulty concentrating, and in bad cases,

self-harm or suicide.

2.2 Classification, Feature Introduction

Anxiety disorders are divided into different types.

The hallmark features of generalized anxiety

disorders are divided into different types. Generalized

anxiety disorder (GAD) has excessive worry as its

hallmark. People with GAD usually cannot relax

easily and may show physical signs of anxiety, such

as muscle tightness, restlessness, or tiredness. Social

anxiety disorder (SAD) means having too much fear

in social and performance situations, which brings

distress and makes people avoid it. Panic disorder is

about repeated panic attacks that come without

warning. It's a sudden and strong feeling of fear, with

physiological symptoms like a fast heartbeat,

dizziness, and a great fear of dying.

There are degrees of depression, too. Mild

depression is a slightly low mood and a slightly low

interest; Major depression is an extremely serious

condition that generates profound feelings of

hopelessness and helplessness. People with major

depression have sleeping problems, appetite

problems, and problems concentrating and with their

socializing. The more severe depression is, the more

negative impacts it will have on an individual's daily

life.

3 EFFECTS OF PARENTS

FOLLOWING PAIRS ON

ADOLESCENT ANXIETY

In this study, the research subjects were high school

and college students aged 12 - 23 in Shaanxi

Province, China. The sample selection process

adopted multi-stage sampling, which covered

educational institutions of different types, including

townships, counties, and cities, as well as different

levels such as junior high schools, high schools, and

universities. A total of 5435 questionnaires were

distributed, and 5188 valid questionnaires were

collected, with an effective collection rate of 95.5%.

Although the sample has a certain degree of diversity

in terms of the educational institutions covered within

Shaanxi Province, it is still limited to this region. This

regional limitation may impact the representativeness

of the results for adolescents in other regions.

However, it can still serve as a basis for studying the

relationship between parental relationships and

adolescent mental health within the region (Yang et

al., 2021).

A questionnaire survey method was employed.

The questionnaire consisted of multiple parts.

Sociodemographic variables were collected, which

included information such as residential area, gender,

education level, family structure, parent's education

level, parents' occupation, and family monthly

income. These variables are closely related to the

family environment and can indirectly reflect the

family background of the parental relationship. The

Systematic Family Dynamics Self-Assessment Scale

(SSFD), which is based on the Heidelberg family

dynamics theory, was used. The dimensions of family

atmosphere, personalization, and system logic can, to

a certain extent, reflect the factors related to parental

relationships, such as the interaction pattern between

parents and children. The scores obtained from this

scale can reflect the family dynamics and are of great

significance for exploring the impact of parental

relationships on adolescent psychology. Additionally,

the Symptom Checklist (SCL - 90 - R) was utilized to

measure the mental health of adolescents. The anxiety

dimension it contains can be used as a direct indicator

for studying adolescent anxiety problems. This scale

has been proven to be reliable in adolescent groups

and can provide more reliable data support for the

research.

The data characteristics were described by

calculating the mean and standard deviation. To

evaluate the differences in mental health and family

dynamics total scores on sociodemographic variables,

The Inﬂuence of Parental Relationships on Anxiety and Depression Among Adolescents

479

the linear mixed model was used. This model adjusted

the clustering effect within the school and considered

the data hierarchy. The multivariate generalized

linear mixed model was further employed to analyze

the related factors. Moreover, the mixed gamma

regression model was used to explore the factors

closely related to mental health, incorporating

personal characteristics and the total score of family

dynamics. It also considered the nonlinear effects of

age and SSFD and centralized SSFD. Structural

equation modeling (SEM) was utilized to explore the

relationship between basic characteristics, family

dynamics, and mental health. Confirmatory factor

analysis was used to hypothesize relevant latent

constructs. The model fit was evaluated using

maximum likelihood estimation and multiple

indicators. The bootstrap method was used to

evaluate the mediating effect of family dynamics.

Additionally, the mental health scores were

logarithmically transformed. These methods jointly

helped to deeply analyze the relationship between

variables and provided an effective analytical

approach for studying the impact of parental

relationships on adolescent anxiety.

The SCL - 90 - R scale (Cronbach's α coefficient

0.963, split - half reliability coefficient 0.914) and the

SSFD scale (Cronbach's α coefficient 0.832, split -

half reliability coefficient 0.701) have high reliability.

In terms of general characteristics, there are

significant differences in the total scores of SCL - 90

- R and SSFD in urban and rural areas, as well as in

parents' education level, occupation, family monthly

income, and educational background. For example,

adolescents living in rural areas, with low parents'

education level, working in blue - collar jobs, and

with low family monthly income have higher scores,

and high school students have the highest SCL - 90 -

R scores. These factors are related to the family

environment and may affect adolescent mental health

by affecting the parent - child relationship. In terms

of the prevalence of mental health, 20.5% of

adolescents have at least one SCL - 90 - R subscale

score ≥2.5. The relevant data of the anxiety

dimension can reflect the anxiety status of

adolescents, and it is found that poor mental health is

related to age increase, high school stage, father's blue

- collar occupation, and high SSFD total score. The

SSFD total score is related to family dynamics,

indicating that the family environment and the parent

- child relationship factors that may be included

therein are related to adolescent mental health. The

results of the structural equation model show that the

basic characteristics of adolescents and their families

have an indirect impact on mental health through

family dynamics and also suggest that the parent-

child relationship may affect adolescent anxiety

through the mediation of family dynamics.

The research conclusions show that family

dynamics are closely related to adolescent mental

health, and family socio-demographic characteristics

affect adolescent mental health by affecting family

dynamics. Compared with other studies, although it

did not directly target the impact of parental

relationships on adolescent anxiety, the dimensions of

family atmosphere and personalization covered by

family dynamics are related to parental relationships,

which provides a perspective for understanding the

impact on adolescent anxiety from the perspective of

the overall family environment. It complements the

research that directly studies the impact of parental

relationships on adolescent anxiety and jointly

emphasizes the importance of family factors in

adolescent mental health. However, this study needs

to further analyze the unique mechanism of action of

specific aspects of parental relationships on

adolescent anxiety.

This study is a cross-sectional study, and it is

impossible to determine the causal relationship and

the causal direction between parental relationships

and adolescent anxiety. The samples only come from

Shaanxi Province, which has regional limitations.

Cultural and socioeconomic differences in different

regions may prevent the research results from being

generalized to the whole country. The study relies on

adolescent self-reports, which may be affected by

subjective factors and lead to inaccurate data. Other

factors that affect adolescent mental health, such as

school environment, individual psychological traits,

and sociocultural factors, are not fully considered.

These factors may interact with parental relationships

to affect adolescent anxiety, and ignoring them makes

the study incomplete. Although family dynamics

measurement has a certain validity, it may not cover

all aspects that affect parent-child relationships and

adolescent anxiety. Future research needs to improve

the design, such as using longitudinal or experimental

research to clarify causality, expanding the sample

range, comprehensively considering more factors,

and improving measurement methods to further

explore the mechanism of the impact of parent-child

relationships on adolescent anxiety (Yang et al.,

2021).

In the study of factors related to adolescent mental

health, one of the important aspects is the

characteristics of research subjects. The focus in this

area is on adolescents, which includes children,

teenagers, and young people. The samples are

gathered from a variety of sources of adolescents

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480

from different regions and backgrounds. However,

there are some problems. For example, in certain

studies, the method of sample selection was not

clearly described. There were cases where studies

involved adolescents but did not elaborate on the

sampling process. This makes it difficult to assess the

representativeness of the sample. Moreover, some

studies have limitations in their samples. Some

research samples are concentrated in specific regions.

For instance, in some studies, the data only came from

the United Kingdom or Australia, etc., or specific

groups like only focusing on college students or

adolescents of a certain age group. This may limit the

generalization of the research results to a broader

range of adolescent groups and fails to

comprehensively reflect the situation of adolescents

in diverse cultures, socioeconomic statuses, and

family environments around the world (Hu et al.,

2023).

Another crucial part is the measurement methods.

Regarding this, they involve multiple aspects. Firstly,

for the measurement of social media use (SMU), it

relates to the utilization of various social media

platforms including Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook,

WeChat, WhatsApp, etc. This includes activities such

as active posting of content, passive browsing, as well

as private one-to-one communication and public one-

to-many communication. Nevertheless, some studies

did not clearly define the specific behaviors or

dimensions being measured. In terms of mental health

indicators, it covers well-being, such as feelings of

happiness, positive emotions, and satisfaction with

life, and adverse conditions at both clinical levels,

like depression and anxiety disorders, and non-

clinical levels, such as depression and anxiety

symptoms, pain, and negative emotions. However,

the specific scales or tools used in different studies to

measure these indicators vary. Some studies did not

clearly introduce the measurement tools, which

affects the reproducibility of the research and the

comparability of the results. Additionally, some

studies did not distinguish different types of SMU in

the measurement process, such as browsing time,

posting frequency, and degree of interaction. This

may lead to a less accurate understanding of the

relationship between SMU and mental health.

The data analysis methods also play a significant

role. The data analysis methods are diverse. Some

studies use meta-analysis methods to conduct

comprehensive statistical analysis of data from

multiple related studies to draw more general

conclusions. For example, some meta-analysis

studies evaluate the strength of the association

between SMU and adolescent mental health

indicators, like depressive symptoms and happiness,

by calculating effect sizes, such as correlation

coefficients r. However, in these meta-analyses,

although the statistical methods are relatively

rigorous, there may be deficiencies in the treatment

and interpretation of heterogeneity between studies,

resulting in uncertainty in the results. Other studies

use systematic review or narrative review methods to

summarize existing studies. However, the lack of a

unified analytical framework or standard during the

data integration process may compromise the

scientific rigor and objectivity of the conclusions to

some extent. Also, some studies did not fully consider

potential confounding factors in data analysis, such as

individual differences like personality and gender,

family environment excluding parental relationships

like family structure and family economic status, and

social and cultural background. These confounding

factors may interfere with the true relationship

between SMU and mental health, thereby affecting

the accuracy of research conclusions.

The data analysis results are as follows. The meta-

analysis results show that there is a very small to

moderate correlation between social networking site

use (SNS use) and adolescent adverse conditions,

such as depressive symptoms, etc. (correlation

coefficient r ranges from 0.05 to 0.17), but some

studies have not found a significant correlation. For

happiness, SNS use is weakly correlated with higher

or lower levels of happiness (r = +0.05 or r = -0.06),

and the study found that adverse conditions and

happiness are not simply opposite relationships, and

both may be affected independently. At the same

time, there is a large variation in effect size between

studies. For example, in the meta-analysis by Ivie et

al., the correlation coefficient r of the association

between SMU and depressive symptoms ranged from

-0.10 to +0.33. The results of the systematic review

and narrative review showed that most studies

believed that SMU had a small effect on adolescent

mental health and the results were inconsistent.

However, some studies were not detailed enough and

confused general SMU time with problematic SMU,

such as treating the two as equivalent or not clearly

distinguishing them. Problematic SMU is a complex

phenomenon that does not only depend on the time of

use. These results mainly focus on the direct

association between SMU and adolescent mental

health and do not involve the impact of parental

relationships on adolescent anxiety but provide

background information for understanding the

multifactorial impact on adolescent mental health.

The research conclusions mainly center around

the relationship between SMU and adolescent mental

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481

health. Most studies believe that the relationship

between the two is weak and inconsistent, but some

studies have different interpretations. Compared with

studies that directly focus on the impact of parental

relationships on adolescent anxiety, this study takes

the external media environment (SMU) as an

approach, while the latter focuses on internal family

relationships. Both are concerned with adolescent

mental health, but the research focuses on different

aspects. This study helps to reveal the potential

impact of the social environment in which

adolescents live on their mental state, while the study

of parental relationships delves into the mechanism of

the interaction pattern within the family on adolescent

anxiety. However, this study did not involve the key

factor of parental relationship and could not directly

provide evidence for the relationship between

parental relationship and adolescent anxiety. There

are obvious differences in the pertinence of the

research topic.

Finally, the study has several defects. Firstly, the

evidence base is mainly cross-sectional research,

which makes it hard to determine the causal

relationship and whether SMU causes mental health

problems or mental health conditions affect SMU

behavior. Secondly, most studies rely too much on

self-report measurement methods, whether it is the

use of SMU or mental health indicators. This method

may be influenced by subjective cognitive bias,

inaccurate memory, social expectation effect, and

other factors, thus affecting the authenticity and

reliability of the data. In terms of samples, some

studies have small and homogeneous sample sizes.

For example, some studies only focus on specific

regions or specific groups, like college students, lack

of diversity, and limit the generalizability of research

results. In addition, insufficient attention has been

paid to the content of SM interactions. Most studies

have only focused on superficial indicators such as

usage time while ignoring the impact of the specific

content, like positive or negative information, that

adolescents are exposed to on social media and its

quality on mental health, which may be a more

important predictor than usage time. Overall, the

study did not include parental relationship variables

and was unable to explain adolescent mental health

issues from the perspective of family relationships.

The research lacks a comprehensive understanding of

factors that influence adolescents’ mental health. In

the future, to conduct a more in-depth study of

adolescents’ mental health, researchers need to

consider parental relationships as a factor in the study

design and improve the deficiencies.

In related research exploring the impact of

parental relationships on adolescent anxiety, Hu

Yueyang and others conducted cross-sectional and

longitudinal studies on adolescents in Jilin Province,

China, using questionnaire measurements and various

analysis methods to find that parental relationships

have a key impact on adolescents' psychological

functions. Although sex super-friendship does not

directly involve anxiety, a good relationship between

parents is good for mental health, while a bad

relationship may lead to the risk of anxiety. A cross-

sectional study by Raquel M. Guevara et al. on

adolescents in Salamanca, Spain, showed that family

relationships (including parental relationships) have a

significant impact on many aspects of adolescents'

lives. Good parental relationships may reduce the risk

of anxiety, while bad relationships increase

susceptibility. Although Wang Limin et al.’s multi-

stage sample survey of middle school students in

Harbin, China, focused on depressive disorders

because depression and anxiety are often co-morbid,

their findings that bad parental relationships are

related to adolescent depression also provide

important insights into the impact of parental

relationships on adolescent anxiety. Overall, although

these studies have different angles, regions, and

methods, they all highlight the importance of a good

parental relationship to adolescent mental health. Bad

relationships are a key risk factor for adolescent

anxiety and other psychological problems, laying the

foundation for subsequent research and intervention.

Base (Guevara et al., 2021, Wang et al., 2019, Liang

et al., 2021).

4 THE IMPACT OF PARENTAL

RELATIONSHIP ON

ADOLESCENT DEPRESSION

Beginning with the characteristics of the research

subjects, the data comes from the Swedish

Westmanland Youth Life Survey Cohort Study

(SALVe-Cohort), including two cohorts born in 1997

and 1999. This study selected data from 2015 (16-18

years old) and 2018 (19-21 years old) and included

1,603 adolescents, of which 58.1% were female. The

sample is representative in terms of family structure

and economic status, such as 92% of parents are

employed, 30% are separated families, 19% are

single-parent families, and 9% are foreign-born

adolescents. The family income is within the local

median range (Keijser et al., 2020).

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In the research, the Depression Self-Rating Scale

for Adolescents (DSRS) is used, based on the DSM-

IV moderate-to-severe depressive disorder A criteria,

covering nine symptom categories such as irritable

mood, asking about the situation in the past 2 weeks,

and summarizing to create a continuous depressive

symptom total index, with a score of 0-9 points.

Cronbach's α coefficient shows that the scale has

good internal consistency. Also, the Parents as Social

Context Questionnaire (PASCQ) is used. The 24-item

self-rating scale assesses six parenting styles

(warmth, rejection, etc.), each with four questions, 0-

3 points, and is combined into positive (warmth,

structure, autonomy support) and negative (rejection,

chaos, coercion) parenting indexes, with reliable

internal consistency. For the parental depression

diagnosis acquisition, the diagnosis of parental

depression in the family is measured through the

guardian questionnaire, and the summary is classified

into the presence or absence of parental lifetime

depression diagnosis.

When considering data analysis methods, the

following procedures were implemented. First, in

terms of data processing and preliminary analysis,

Cronbach's α was employed to evaluate the internal

consistency of depressive symptoms and parenting

styles. The Mann-Whitney U test was utilized to

examine potential gender differences in both

dependent and independent variables. Effect sizes

were calculated to quantify the magnitude of

differences. Spearman's rank correlation was used to

assess the relationships among parenting styles, with

variance inflation factors (VIFs) and tolerance levels

being inspected to control for multicollinearity. Cut-

offs for VIFs were set as <1 for no correlation, 1 - 5

for moderate correlation, and >5 for high correlation,

while a tolerance cut-off of.4 was set, with.84

considered high tolerance (low multicollinearity)

and.19 considered low tolerance (serious

multicollinearity). Second, regarding the main

analysis methods, hierarchical cluster analysis was

conducted to analyze the components of parenting

styles. Multiple linear regression analyses were

carried out to investigate the main and interaction

effects of parenting styles, parental depression,

gender, and age on depressive symptoms. This was

performed both in a cross-sectional design (at wave

2) and longitudinally (from wave 2 to wave 3, with a

three-year interval between the two waves). In the

longitudinal analysis, adjustments were made for

depressive symptoms at wave 2. Stepwise backward

elimination was used to determine the final regression

model. All statistical analyses were performed using

the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (IBM

SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 26.0; IBM

Corp., Armonk, NY), and a two-sided P value of.05

was considered statistically significant.

Regarding data analysis results, parenting styles

were strongly correlated, cluster analysis supported

the merging of positive and negative indexes, and the

internal consistency of the index was good. Besides,

the level of depressive symptoms in female

adolescents was higher than that in males, and there

was no gender difference in parenting style. Third,

positive parenting style is negatively correlated with

depressive symptoms, negative parenting style and

parental depression are positively correlated with

depressive symptoms, parental depression, and

adolescent gender interact significantly, and the

correlation is stronger in females. Finally, after

controlling for initial symptoms, positive parenting

style has a long-term protective effect, negative

parenting style, and other styles have no significant

longitudinal association with later depressive

symptoms, and parental depression and gender

interaction are not significant.

In summary, the present study demonstrates that a

positive parenting style is associated with a reduction

in adolescent depressive symptoms, whereas a

negative parenting style and parental depression are

linked to an increase in such symptoms. In the cross-

sectional analysis, it was found that parental

depression exerts a stronger influence on depressive

symptoms among female adolescents.

Longitudinally, a positive parenting style during mid-

adolescence was shown to have a protective effect on

depressive symptoms three years later. Notably, no

interaction was detected between parenting style and

parental depression diagnosis. When compared with

other related studies, a consistent emphasis on the

significance of family environmental factors was

observed. This study is grounded in a specific

theoretical framework, employing a cluster analysis

of parenting styles. The sample was drawn from

Sweden, providing representativeness in terms of

regional culture and covering the mid-to-late-

adolescence period, thereby laying a foundation for

investigating long-term effects.

However, the research still has some limitations.

First, self-report questionnaires have information bias

in assessing depressive symptoms, and the

comorbidity of mental illness and lack of treatment

information affect the accuracy of the results. Second,

there was no comparison with younger groups, no

consideration of confounding factors (such as

parental divorce), and adolescents' assessment of

parenting styles cannot analyze the impact of parental

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483

differences, while other studies may have more

detailed classifications or different assessment tools.

Starting with the characteristics of research

subjects, adolescents with depressive disorders and

their parents who visited the Jiading District Mental

Health Center and Jiading District Central Hospital in

Shanghai from January 1, 2015, to April 30, 2017,

were selected. They met the strict inclusion and

exclusion criteria, and finally, 93 patients (42 males

and 51 females) were included. There were no

significant differences between male and female

patients in age, education, course of disease, severity

of disease, and parental involvement (Consoli et al.,

2013).

Researchers use several measurement methods,

first is general information collection, which means

that a general status questionnaire was used to collect

various information such as the name and gender of

the patient and parents. Second, disease severity

assessment, Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9),

and Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item Scale

(GAD-7) were used to assess the condition. Third, the

Family Function Rating Scale (FADCV) was used,

with 60 items and seven dimensions (problem-

solving, etc.), 1-4 points, partial reverse scoring, and

the average score of the subscale as the final score. A

high score indicates poor family function. It is

suitable for family members over 12 years old and has

good reliability and validity. Finally, the parent-child

relationship scale was used, with 3 dimensions (trust,

intimacy, and time together), a 5-point Likert score,

and a total score below 60 indicating a poor parent-

child relationship and above 60 indicating a good

parent-child relationship. The average of the parent-

child relationship scale scores of both parents was

used to assess the relationship, and for single parents,

only one parent's scale score was tested.

In this study, data analysis was implemented

through multiple methods. Firstly, in terms of data

processing and descriptive statistics, data entry was

managed in Excel and further analyzed using SPSS

17.0. For continuous variables, their normal

distribution was examined using the Shapiro-Wilk

test. If the data followed a normal distribution, the

mean and standard deviation were calculated to

describe them; otherwise, non-parametric descriptive

statistics were used. Categorical variables were

described by frequency ratios. For comparing means

between groups, the independent-sample t-test was

utilized if the data met the assumptions of normality

and homogeneity of variance; otherwise, the Mann-

Whitney U test was employed. Subsequently, in the

correlation analysis, the relationships among various

factors of family function and the parent-child

relationship were explored using Pearson's

correlation coefficient for normally distributed

variables or Spearman's rank correlation coefficient

for non-normally distributed variables. Finally, in the

multiple regression analysis, with the total score of

the parent-child relationship set as the dependent

variable and multiple factors such as the parent's

education level and family income as the independent

variables, the factors influencing the parent-child

relationship were analyzed through stepwise

backward regression. This involved entering all

independent variables into the model initially and

then sequentially removing the variables that did not

contribute significantly to the model until only the

significant predictors remained.

The data analysis yielded the following results. In

the analysis of differences in family function and the

parent-child relationship, adolescents with depression

exhibited more negative perceptions than their

parents in multiple dimensions of family function.

Specifically, the intimacy dimension and total score

of the parent-child relationship were significantly

lower (p < 0.05). In the correlation analysis between

the parent-child relationship and family function, the

parent-child relationship was negatively correlated

with various dimensions of family function, except

for the time spent together. Notably, dimensions such

as problem-solving, communication, roles, affective

responsiveness, and behavior control showed

significant negative correlations. Regarding the

factors affecting the parent-child relationship, family

function roles, emotional involvement, emotional

response, family structure, and family income

emerged as the main factors (Chen et al., 2017).

From these results, several research conclusions

could be drawn. It was concluded that there are

differences in perception between adolescents with

depression and their parents in family function and

parent-child relationship. Bad family factors lead to a

poor parent-child relationship. The parent-child

relationship is negatively correlated with family

function except for the time spent together. These

perceived differences can predict family problems

and provide a starting point for family treatment.

When compared with other studies, it is consistent

with the research that emphasizes the impact of

family factors on adolescent depression. This study

provides new evidence from the perspective of family

function and parent-child relationship, such as the

discovery that factors like family member roles affect

parent-child relationships.

Nevertheless, this study also has some research

flaws and shortcomings. Regarding the limitations of

the research sample, only patients and their parents

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who visited specific hospitals in Jiading, Shanghai

were included, without sample estimation, and thus

the representativeness of the sample was limited.

Concerning the limitations of the research design,

there was no in-depth exploration of how differences

in family function and parent-child relationship

perception specifically affect the development of

adolescent depression, and there was a lack of

evaluation of the effectiveness of family treatment

interventions.

In the field of adolescent mental health, two

studies delved into the impact of parental

relationship-related factors on adolescents’

psychological conditions. Chen et al. focused on the

relationship between parental depression and

adolescent bullying on campus. Through a survey of

2,419 students in grades 7 - 12 and their parents in

Taiwan’s metropolitan areas, they found that parental

depression was not directly significantly related to the

two types of campus bullying (Yang et al., 2021).

There is an indirect effect through adolescent

depression, and the effect is consistent across gender

and age groups, highlighting the importance of family

factors in the prevention of school bullying.

Consoli et al. focused on studying the impact of

family relationships on the suicidal behavior of

depressed adolescents (Hu et al., 2023). They used a

sample of 31,429 17-year-old adolescents in France.

The analysis showed that negative relationships with

parents, and parents living together but having a

disharmonious relationship were associated with

adolescent suicide risk and/or depression is

significantly associated. This association still exists

after adjusting for various confounding factors such

as educational level, repeat school years, socio-

economic status, and substance use. The odds ratio

increases with the severity of suicide risk. However,

this study also has many limitations, such as not

considering other psychopathological factors and

being cross-sectional research (Sallinen et al., 2007).

These two studies provide an important basis for

an in-depth understanding of the role of family

relationships in adolescent mental health and provide

reference directions for subsequent research and the

development of intervention measures. Other studies

also examine the association among different groups

(Tao et al., 2024).

5 SUGGESTIONS

In terms of the relationship between parental

relationship and adolescent mental health, the study

by Yang et al. in Shaanxi indicated that family

dynamics were closely tied to adolescent mental

health, with family socio-demographic characteristics

indirectly influencing it through family dynamics.

This shows the significance of the family

environment and its connection to parental

relationships. Another study underlined the

importance of research methods in ensuring the

reliability of results. Despite different topics, it is

evident that parental relationship, as an internal

family factor, is highly important for adolescent

mental health. Other related research also supports

that a good parental relationship can reduce the risk

of adolescent anxiety and depression, while a poor

one may contribute to these problems (Yang et al.,

2021).

Studies such as the one in Sweden and Shanghai

have further explored the relationship. The Swedish

study used a professional scale to show that positive

parenting can have a positive impact on adolescent

depression symptoms, while negative parenting and

parental depression can have a negative impact, also

highlighting gender and long-term differences. The

Shanghai study found differences in perceptions of

family function and parent-child relationship between

adolescent depressed patients and their parents, and

how adverse family factors can affect these

relationships and family function.

Based on previous studies, this article finds that

parental relationship has a major impact on

adolescent mental health. A positive parental

relationship helps lower the risk of adolescent anxiety

and depression, and a negative one may be a key

factor leading to adolescent psychological problems.

Studies in different cultural backgrounds all support

this, suggesting that improving the parental

relationship is an important way to prevent and

address adolescent anxiety and depression.

Overall, these studies confirm the core role of

parental relationships in adolescent anxiety and

depression from many aspects, but most of them are

cross-sectional studies, which have limitations such

as difficulty in determining causality, sample

limitations, measurement interference by subjective

factors, and insufficient consideration of some

potential confounding factors.

At the family level, parents should create a

harmonious atmosphere, pay attention to emotional

communication and scientific parenting, and pay

attention to their mental health. At the school level,

the construction of mental health education courses

and activities should be strengthened to cultivate

students' skills in coping with family relationship

pressure and emotional management, such as

conducting parent-child relationship-themed lectures

The Inﬂuence of Parental Relationships on Anxiety and Depression Among Adolescents

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and group counseling. At the social level, it is

necessary to publicize the importance of family

relationships to adolescent mental health through

various channels, and the government and social

organizations should cooperate to carry out parent

training programs to improve parents' parenting

ability and psychological quality.

In terms of research design, researchers promote

longitudinal or experimental research to determine

causal relationships, such as long-term tracking of

specific groups. Sample selection should be more

extensive and diverse, and multinational multi-center

cooperative research should be carried out.

Measurement methods should be optimized and

innovative, combining multi-dimensional means to

reduce subjective interference. In addition, more

potential factors are considered comprehensively and

their interaction mechanism with parental

relationship is explored to build a better theoretical

model to provide a basis for the prevention and

intervention of adolescent psychological problems.

6 CONCLUSION

This study aims to contribute to the understanding of

the relationship between parental relationships and

adolescent anxiety and depression. The synthesis of

the findings from a number of research reveals that

parental relationship is perhaps the most important

factor that has a significant influence on the mental

health of an adolescent. No matter if it is an indirect

way to discuss the impact of parental relationships on

adolescent anxiety based on family dynamics or a

direct way to examine the relationship between

parental parenting style, depression, and adolescent

depression, it is clear that good parental relationship

can decrease the probability of anxiety and depression

among adolescents while the reverse is true.

In line with the findings of this study, the

following recommendations are proposed: At the

family level, parents should foster a harmonious

family environment and adopt positive parenting

strategies. This includes providing consistent

warmth, support, guidance, and encouragement while

avoiding rejection, confusion, excessive force, or

neglect in education. Additionally, parents should pay

attention to their mental health and recognize the

potential impact of their psychological state,

including depression and other issues, on their

children. At the social level, efforts should be made

to enhance public awareness and education regarding

the importance of family relationships. Relevant

training and resources should be made available to

parents to help them navigate and improve parent-

child interactions more effectively. At the school

level, mental health education programs and activities

should be implemented to guide young people in

understanding the influence of family dynamics on

their psychological well-being. These initiatives can

also help students develop better-coping mechanisms

to manage family-related stress.

This study holds great significance. Firstly, it

offers a theoretical basis for comprehensively

understanding adolescent mental health issues within

the framework of family relationships. This

understanding is conducive to prompting families,

schools, and society to place due attention on

adolescent mental health and jointly take measures to

enhance it. Secondly, it lays a solid foundation for

further exploration of the correlation between parent-

child relationships and adolescent mental health.

Future research can adopt longitudinal or

experimental research designs. By doing so, the

causal relationships can be precisely clarified.

Expanding the sample scope is also essential, which

will enhance the universality and representativeness

of research outcomes. Moreover, a more

comprehensive consideration of various influencing

factors is required to optimize the research model. In

conclusion, these efforts will drive the continuous and

in-depth progression of research in this area,

ultimately providing more robust support for

safeguarding the mental health of adolescents.

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