Interparental Conflict and Early Adulthood Depression: Maternal Care and Psychological Needs Satisfaction as Mediators

Shuangju Zhen, Jinjin Liu, Boyu Qiu, Lianying Fu, Jianping Hu and Binyuan Su
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Shuangju Zhen: Center for Studies of Psychological Application, School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
Jinjin Liu: Center for Studies of Psychological Application, School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
Boyu Qiu: Center for Studies of Psychological Application, School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
Lianying Fu: Center for Studies of Psychological Application, School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
Jianping Hu: Laboratory for Behavioral and Regional Finance, Guangdong University of Finance, Guangzhou 510631, China
Binyuan Su: Center for Studies of Psychological Application, School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 3, 1-12

Abstract: Previous research has identified exposure to interparental conflict (IPC) in childhood as a risk factor for young adults’ depression. However, there is still a lack of understanding of the underlying mediating mechanisms of this association. Driven by the spillover hypothesis, the present study investigated whether maternal antipathy and neglect, and in turn unmet psychological needs, mediated the relation between IPC and early adulthood depression in a sample of 347 undergraduate students (M = 23.27 years; SD = 0.86; 57.05% women) in China. The participants completed self-report measures of IPC, maternal care, satisfaction of basic psychological needs, and depression. Structural equation modeling revealed that: (a) IPC was positively associated with early adulthood depression; (b) this association was sequentially mediated by inadequate maternal care (i.e., antipathy and neglect) and by unsatisfied psychological needs. These findings suggest that efforts to prevent depression should focus on reducing not only IPC, but also inadequate maternal care and unmet psychological needs.

Keywords: interparental conflict; depression; antipathy; neglect; psychological needs satisfaction (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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