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Prediction of parental alienation on depression in left-behind children: A 12-month follow-up investigation

AIMS: Alienation towards parents often occurs when parents divorce; however, it can also occur when one or both parents leave for work for more than 6 months. Our previous investigation has confirmed a high level of feelings of alienation towards parents among Chinese left-behind children. However,...

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Autores principales: Sun, Xiaoxiao, Qin, Xuemei, Zhang, Mengjia, Yang, Aigang, Ren, Xiaomei, Dai, Qin
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Cambridge University Press 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8192594/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34092271
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S2045796021000329
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author Sun, Xiaoxiao
Qin, Xuemei
Zhang, Mengjia
Yang, Aigang
Ren, Xiaomei
Dai, Qin
author_facet Sun, Xiaoxiao
Qin, Xuemei
Zhang, Mengjia
Yang, Aigang
Ren, Xiaomei
Dai, Qin
author_sort Sun, Xiaoxiao
collection PubMed
description AIMS: Alienation towards parents often occurs when parents divorce; however, it can also occur when one or both parents leave for work for more than 6 months. Our previous investigation has confirmed a high level of feelings of alienation towards parents among Chinese left-behind children. However, the longitudinal prediction of alienation on children's mental health outcomes remains largely unknown. This study aims to observe the prediction of alienation towards parents on children's depression 12 months later and potential mediators and moderators. METHODS: A total of 1090 Chinese left-behind children took part in this 12-month follow-up investigation, using the Chinese version of the Inventory of Alienation towards Parents (IAP), the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI), the Adolescent Self-Rating Life-events Checklist (ASLEC), and the Adolescent Resilience Scale. RESULTS: Alienation towards parents was high (16.42 ± 7.27 for mother, 15.63 ± 7.17 for father) in left-behind children, and 21.01% of children reported depression. Alienation towards parents predicted current depression of children directly and later depression indirectly; children's alienation toward their mothers was a stronger predictor of depression than alienation towards fathers. In models, stressful life-events acted as a risk mediator. Previous depression was the strongest risk predictor, resilience was the strongest protective factor, and duration of fathers’ absence and parents’ marital status moderated the predictive effects. CONCLUSIONS: This study is among the first to longitudinally confirm that alienation towards parents is a predictor of children's later depression. The results provide important suggestions for families and schools; i.e. to prevent depression in left-behind children, parent−child bonds especially alienation towards mothers, should be carefully considered, and individuals with more negative life-events and weaker resilience need further attention.
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spelling pubmed-81925942021-06-23 Prediction of parental alienation on depression in left-behind children: A 12-month follow-up investigation Sun, Xiaoxiao Qin, Xuemei Zhang, Mengjia Yang, Aigang Ren, Xiaomei Dai, Qin Epidemiol Psychiatr Sci Original Article AIMS: Alienation towards parents often occurs when parents divorce; however, it can also occur when one or both parents leave for work for more than 6 months. Our previous investigation has confirmed a high level of feelings of alienation towards parents among Chinese left-behind children. However, the longitudinal prediction of alienation on children's mental health outcomes remains largely unknown. This study aims to observe the prediction of alienation towards parents on children's depression 12 months later and potential mediators and moderators. METHODS: A total of 1090 Chinese left-behind children took part in this 12-month follow-up investigation, using the Chinese version of the Inventory of Alienation towards Parents (IAP), the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI), the Adolescent Self-Rating Life-events Checklist (ASLEC), and the Adolescent Resilience Scale. RESULTS: Alienation towards parents was high (16.42 ± 7.27 for mother, 15.63 ± 7.17 for father) in left-behind children, and 21.01% of children reported depression. Alienation towards parents predicted current depression of children directly and later depression indirectly; children's alienation toward their mothers was a stronger predictor of depression than alienation towards fathers. In models, stressful life-events acted as a risk mediator. Previous depression was the strongest risk predictor, resilience was the strongest protective factor, and duration of fathers’ absence and parents’ marital status moderated the predictive effects. CONCLUSIONS: This study is among the first to longitudinally confirm that alienation towards parents is a predictor of children's later depression. The results provide important suggestions for families and schools; i.e. to prevent depression in left-behind children, parent−child bonds especially alienation towards mothers, should be carefully considered, and individuals with more negative life-events and weaker resilience need further attention. Cambridge University Press 2021-06-07 /pmc/articles/PMC8192594/ /pubmed/34092271 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S2045796021000329 Text en © The Author(s) 2021 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided that no alterations are made and the original article is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained prior to any commercial use and/or adaptation of the article.
spellingShingle Original Article
Sun, Xiaoxiao
Qin, Xuemei
Zhang, Mengjia
Yang, Aigang
Ren, Xiaomei
Dai, Qin
Prediction of parental alienation on depression in left-behind children: A 12-month follow-up investigation
title Prediction of parental alienation on depression in left-behind children: A 12-month follow-up investigation
title_full Prediction of parental alienation on depression in left-behind children: A 12-month follow-up investigation
title_fullStr Prediction of parental alienation on depression in left-behind children: A 12-month follow-up investigation
title_full_unstemmed Prediction of parental alienation on depression in left-behind children: A 12-month follow-up investigation
title_short Prediction of parental alienation on depression in left-behind children: A 12-month follow-up investigation
title_sort prediction of parental alienation on depression in left-behind children: a 12-month follow-up investigation
topic Original Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8192594/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34092271
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S2045796021000329
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