Do the Differences between Resilience Account for the Association between Parenting Styles and Depressive Symptoms in Chinese Undergraduate Students?: An Examination of a Mediation Model

In their first separation from home and preparing for professional careers, undergraduate students face the challenging psychological and psychosocial transition from careless puberty to independent adulthood. The pressure of simultaneously achieving social development and educational attainment might unconsciously generate poor mental health and even depressive symptoms. Apart from genetic factors, parenting styles also have been widely identified as a risk factor for depressive symptoms in emerging adults. Although greater parental authoritarianism has previously been associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms, not everyone with high-demand and low responsive parenting styles would be diagnosed with major depression. Instead, resilience might mediate the correlation between parenting styles and depression. This research examined whether resilience could serve as a meditator between parenting styles and depressive symptoms in Chinese undergraduate students and adopted three self-rating questionnaires - Parents as Social Contest Questionnaire(PASCQ), Beck Depression Inventory(BDI), Connor-Davidson Resilience(CD-RISC). PASCQ is a parenting style questionnaire scores on three bipolar dimensions: warmth vs. rejection, structure vs. chaos, autonomy support vs. coercion. As a result, there is no significant negative correlation between structure, warmth, and depression, while chaotic parenting could not be significantly negatively associated with resilience. Besides, only rejection, autonomy support, and coercion could meditate by resilience, which emphasizes the importance of practicing independence and autonomy.