The protective role of parental involvement at home in negative psychological outcomes among Chinese adolescents during the COVID-19 epidemic

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 outbreak has generated many negative psychological outcomes, such as depression, in adolescents. Exploration of protective factors for adolescent mental health is urgently needed, and no research has examined the role of parental involvement. METHODS: From March to April 2020, valid data were collected from 1663 Chinese adolescents through online demographic and other questionnaires. Parental involvement at home was assessed by an adapted questionnaire on parental support in learning at home, stress since the COVID-19 outbreak was measured by the Perceived Stress Scale, and three negative psychological outcomes (i.e., depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS)) were measured by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, Zung Self-rating Anxiety Scale, and PTSD Check List-Civilian Version, respectively. RESULTS: In total, 35.4%, 21% and 25% of adolescents had depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and PTSS, respectively. Three moderated mediation models consistently showed the following: a. Parental involvement indirectly reduced the three psychological problems by alleviating perceived stress, and the indirect effects were not moderated by sex. b. There were negative direct effects of parental involvement on the three psychological problems, and the links were not moderated by sex. c. Sex moderated the associations between perceived stress and the three psychological problems. LIMITATIONS: The cross-sectional design and the sampling of all participants from one junior high school impeded causal inferences and the generalization of our findings, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: We found similar indirect and direct protective roles of parental involvement in boys' and girls' mental health, and girls were more vulnerable to stress.