Background
Methods
Study participants
Study instrument and research variables
Depressive symptoms
Family interactions
Data management and statistical analysis
Results
Children's self-reports of depressive symptoms in study participants
Depressive symptoms | Never | Once or twice | Many times | Chi-square test | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
boys | girls | boys | girls | boys | girls | ||||||||
n | (%) | n | (%) | n | (%) | n | (%) | n | (%) | n | (%) | ||
1. Didn't feel like eating | 713 | (56.9) | 656 | (54.9) | 483 | (38.5) | 497 | (41.6) | 58 | (4.6) | 42 | (3.5) | 3.714 |
2. Felt very sad | 457 | (36.4) | 344 | (28.8) | 676 | (53.9) | 689 | (57.7) | 121 | (9.6) | 161 | (13.5) | 20.280*** |
3. Cried for no reason | 1056 | (84.3) | 876 | (73.4) | 166 | (13.2) | 262 | (22.0) | 31 | (2.5) | 55 | (4.6) | 43.555*** |
4. Found it hard to carry out tasks | 546 | (43.6) | 570 | (47.8) | 556 | (44.4) | 531 | (44.5) | 151 | (12.1) | 92 | (7.7) | 13.953** |
5. Felt frightened | 968 | (77.2) | 832 | (69.6) | 250 | (19.9) | 309 | (25.9) | 36 | (2.9) | 54 | (4.5) | 18.692*** |
6. Didn't sleep well | 774 | (61.8) | 726 | (60.8) | 376 | (30.0) | 391 | (32.7) | 103 | (8.2) | 78 | (6.5) | 3.910 |
7. Lacked motivation | 596 | (47.5) | 526 | (44.0) | 529 | (42.2) | 556 | (46.5) | 129 | (10.3) | 113 | (9.5) | 4.678 |
Whole sample | Boy | Girl | T-test | ||||||||||
depressive symptoms score(7~21points) | n = 2441 mean = 10.56 SD = 2.66 | n = 1251 mean = 10.42 SD = 2.58 | n = 1190 mean = 10.71 SD = 2.73 | -2.65** |
Types of children's perceived family interactions among study participants
Factor structure of children's perceived family interactions
Family interactions | Factor 1 Supporting activities | Factor 2 Psychological control | Factor 3 Parental discipline | Factor 4 Behavioral supervision | Factor 5 Family conflict | Communalities |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. Parents praise you |
.804
| -.011 | -.104 | .065 | -.043 | .663 |
2. Parents comfort you |
.800
| -.074 | -.095 | .094 | -.080 | .670 |
3. Parents encourage you |
.792
| -.054 | -.152 | .066 | -.060 | .662 |
4. Parents help you solve problems |
.756
| -.045 | -.103 | .172 | -.069 | .619 |
5. Parents listen to what you say |
.711
| -.162 | -.136 | .135 | -.112 | .581 |
6. Parents care about what happens at school |
.674
| -.012 | -.014 | .196 | -.086 | .501 |
7. Parents look after you when you are sick |
.664
| .023 | -.060 | .142 | -.030 | .465 |
8. Parents tell you why they want you to do things |
.613
| .046 | -.090 | .152 | -.082 | .416 |
9. Parents talk with you |
.579
| -.126 | -.017 | .295 | .060 | .442 |
10. Parents play with you at home |
.502
| -.362 | .153 | .293 | .096 | .502 |
11. Parents take you on outings |
.466
| -.320 | .143 | .200 | .162 | .406 |
12. Parents do your homework with you |
.454
| -.308 | .253 | .290 | .082 | .455 |
13. Parents remind you about past mistakes when you are in trouble | -.162 |
.634
| .303 | .052 | .051 | .525 |
14. Parents interrupt you when you are talking | -.233 |
.589
| .247 | .028 | .101 | .473 |
15. Parents shout and swear at you | -.052 |
.518
| .408 | -.028 | .096 | .448 |
16. Parents blame you for things other people have done | -.267 |
.492
| .267 | -.010 | .228 | .437 |
17. Parents tell you that children don't understand things | .153 |
.467
| .112 | -.008 | .133 | .272 |
18. Parents make you feel that they are always right | .337 |
.400
| .061 | .045 | -.063 | .284 |
19. Parents are not nice to you when you disagree with them | -.183 |
.389
| .286 | -.013 | .168 | .295 |
20. Parents hit you | -.175 | .331 |
.590
| .022 | .121 | .504 |
21. Parents punish you by making you do housework or write lines | -.011 | .068 |
.587
| .018 | .048 | .352 |
22. Parents punish you by making you kneel or stand | -.086 | .229 |
.581
| -.009 | .130 | .415 |
23. Parents take away your pocket money or toys | -.051 | .206 |
.563
| -.066 | -.060 | .370 |
24. Parents ban you from doing something you like | -.051 | .373 |
.496
| -.012 | -.014 | .388 |
25. Parents lock you in a room | .004 | .022 |
.427
| -.079 | .080 | .195 |
26. Parents know what you do on the way home from school | .227 | .066 | -.187 |
.676
| .023 | .549 |
27. Parents know what you do in your free time | .315 | -.015 | -.170 |
.660
| .021 | .564 |
28. Parents know who you spend most of your time with | .300 | .098 | -.229 |
.593
| -.019 | .505 |
29. Parents know how you spend your pocket money | .147 | .055 | -.057 |
.582
| -.114 | .380 |
30. You do housework with your parents | .321 | -.251 | .252 |
.452
| .009 | .434 |
31. You eat with your parents | .326 | -.131 | .165 |
.402
| -.009 | .312 |
32. You have physical fights with your brothers and sisters | -.142 | .016 | .052 | -.100 |
.815
| .697 |
33. You have arguments with your brothers and sisters | -.108 | .124 | .044 | -.122 |
.805
| .692 |
34. You have arguments with your parents or other elders | -.077 | .350 | .055 | -.228 |
.399
| .343 |
Eigenvalue | 8.0 | 3.6 | 1.6 | 1.4 | 1.3 | |
Post varimax explained variability (%) | 16.6 | 7.6 | 7.3 | 6.9 | 5.0 | |
Accumulated explained variability (%) | 16.6 | 24.2 | 31.5 | 38.4 | 43.5 | |
Cronbach's α | .900 | .680 | .740 | .717 | .657 |
Clustering of children's perceived family interactions
Means of Factor Scores and Depressive Symptom Scores | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Factors | Cluster 1 Supervised group (n = 709) (29.66%) | Cluster 2 Disciplined group (n = 324) (13.56%) | Cluster 3 Nurtured group (n = 979) (40.96%) | Cluster 4 Conflict group (n = 378) (15.82%) | F value | Scheffe's test |
Supporting activities | -0.8974 | -0.1913 |
0.7472
| -0.0513 | 708.48*** | 3 > (2,4) > 1 |
Psychological control | 0.0587 |
0.6512
| -0.3404 | 0.2035 | 101.60*** | 2 > (1,4) > 3 |
Parental discipline | -0.4312 |
1.7356
| -0.1528 | -0.2821 | 756.54*** | 2 > 3 > 4 > 1 |
Behavioral supervision |
0.2130
| -0.1448 |
0.0813
| -0.4454 | 42.69*** | (1,3) > 2 > 4 |
Family conflict | -0.3735 | -0.2199 | -0.2810 |
1.6387
| 815.80*** | 4 > (1,2,3) |
Depressive symptom score | 10.56 | 11.94 | 9.61 | 11.79 | 113.297*** | (2,4) > 1 > 3 |
Relationships between children's perceived family interaction types and children's self-reports of depressive symptoms
Discussion
Relationships between different types of family interactions and children's self-reports of depressive symptoms
Gender differences in children's self-reports of depressive symptoms
Study limitations
Conclusion
Acknowledgements
Competing interests
Authors' contributions
Interaction types and specific questions | Scale |
---|---|
Family activities:
| |
The following questions are about your experiences in your family. | |
1. In the past week, did you talk with your parents? | 1 = never |
2. In the past week, did you eat with your parents? | 2 = one or two days |
3. In the past week, did you do housework with your parents? | 3 = many days |
4. In the past week, did your parents help you with your homework? | 4 = every day |
5. In the past week, did your parents play with you at home? | |
6. In the past week, did your parents take you on outings? | |
Parental discipline:
| |
When you misbehave, do your parents use the following ways to punish you? | |
1. Lock you in a room? | 1 = never |
2. Ban you from doing something you like? | 2 = once or twice |
3. Take your pocket money or toys away? | 3 = many times |
4. Make you do housework or write lines? | 4 = always |
5. Shout or swear at you? | |
6. Make you stand or kneel? | |
7. Hit you? | |
Parental support:
| |
The following questions are about your experiences of getting along with your parents lately. | |
1. Do your parents encourage you when you are having trouble doing something? | 1 = never |
2. Do your parents praise you when you are a good boy/girl? | 2 = once or twice |
3. Do your parents comfort you when you are in a bad mood? | 3 = many times |
4. Do your parents look after you when you are sick? | 4 = always |
5. Do your parents listen to you when you have something to say? | |
6. Do your parents care about what happens at school? | |
7. Do your parents help you solve problems? | |
8. Do your parents tell you why they want you to do something? | |
Psychological control:
| |
The following questions are about your experiences of getting along with your parents lately. | |
1. Do your parents make you feel that they are always right? | 1 = never |
2. Do your parents often say to you 'Children don't understand things. Wait until you are older and then you will understand?' | 2 = once or twice |
3. Do your parents remind you about past mistakes when you are in trouble? | 3 = many times |
4. Do your parents interrupt you when you are talking? | 4 = always |
5. Do your parents blame you for things that other people in the house have done? | |
6. When you and your parents disagree about something, are they not nice to you? | |
Family conflict:
| |
The following questions are about the relationships among your family members. | |
1. In the past month, did you have arguments with your brothers and sisters? | 1 = never |
2. In the past month, did you have physical fights with your brothers and sisters? | 2 = one or two days |
3. In the past month, did you have arguments with your parents or other elders? | 3 = many days |
4 = every day | |
Behavioral supervision:
| |
Please answer the following questions according to your experiences lately. | |
1. Do your parents know what you do in your free time? | 1 = don't know a thing |
2. Do your parents know what you do after school? | 2 = know a little bit |
3. Do your parents know who you mostly hang out with? | 3 = almost everything |
4. Do your parents know how you spend your pocket money? | 4 = definitely know |
Depressive symptoms:
| |
The following questions are about your experiences in the past two weeks: | |
1. In the past two weeks, did you not feel like eating even your favorite foods? | 1 = never |
2. In the past two weeks, did you feel sad or in a bad mood? | 2 = once or twice |
3. In the past two weeks, did you feel like crying for no reason? | 3 = many times |
4. In the past two weeks, did you find it difficult to carry out tasks? | |
5. In the past two weeks, did you feel very frightened? | |
6. In the past two weeks, did you have trouble sleeping? | |
7. In the past two weeks, did you lack motivation to do things? |