{"title":"Family Risk Profiles and Mental Health Among Chinese Adolescents: A Latent Class Analysis","authors":"Yifu Chen, Wei Zheng, Meihui He, Yongxing Guo, Minrui Zhang, Ruoxi Feng, Daoqun Ding, Ruixiang Gao","doi":"10.1007/s11482-024-10371-4","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Adolescent mental health is considerably influenced by family circumstances, with adversity frequently resulting in detrimental effects. While cumulative risk models theorize the accumulation of risks amplifies harm, recent researchers employing latent class analysis (LCA) seeks to comprehend the impacts of complex risk profiles on youth. However, the use of LCA remains sparse in studies involving Chinese adolescents. This research examined a sample of 2,889 Chinese secondary school students, assessing six family risk factors, namely, parental divorce, parent–child separation, financial hardship, low parental education, diminished family intimacy, and family conflict. The study also deployed indigenous measures to evaluate ten dimensions of mental health. Through LCA, distinct family risk profiles were identified and subsequently analyzed in comparison to mental health indicators utilizing ANOVA tests. The analysis delineated five distinct risk profiles: No Risk, Parental Education Risk, Family Detachment Risk, Family Conflict Risk, and Cumulative Risk. Remarkably, the Family Conflict Risk profile correlated with the most adverse mental health outcomes. Interestingly, parent–child separation appeared to confer certain benefits. Moreover, girls and older adolescents manifested exacerbated symptoms, which were amplified by their interplay with family risks. The study elucidates that specific configurations of family adversity, particularly those revolving around conflict and detachment, have a pronounced impact on the mental well-being of Chinese adolescents, while implying separation from parents potentially offered a protective effect. Consequently, interventions targeted at parents and designed to alleviate destructive family dynamics and encourage healthier relationships can be crucial in promoting mental health outcomes in this demographic.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51483,"journal":{"name":"Applied Research in Quality of Life","volume":"19 6","pages":"3189 - 3218"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8000,"publicationDate":"2024-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Applied Research in Quality of Life","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11482-024-10371-4","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"SOCIAL SCIENCES, INTERDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Adolescent mental health is considerably influenced by family circumstances, with adversity frequently resulting in detrimental effects. While cumulative risk models theorize the accumulation of risks amplifies harm, recent researchers employing latent class analysis (LCA) seeks to comprehend the impacts of complex risk profiles on youth. However, the use of LCA remains sparse in studies involving Chinese adolescents. This research examined a sample of 2,889 Chinese secondary school students, assessing six family risk factors, namely, parental divorce, parent–child separation, financial hardship, low parental education, diminished family intimacy, and family conflict. The study also deployed indigenous measures to evaluate ten dimensions of mental health. Through LCA, distinct family risk profiles were identified and subsequently analyzed in comparison to mental health indicators utilizing ANOVA tests. The analysis delineated five distinct risk profiles: No Risk, Parental Education Risk, Family Detachment Risk, Family Conflict Risk, and Cumulative Risk. Remarkably, the Family Conflict Risk profile correlated with the most adverse mental health outcomes. Interestingly, parent–child separation appeared to confer certain benefits. Moreover, girls and older adolescents manifested exacerbated symptoms, which were amplified by their interplay with family risks. The study elucidates that specific configurations of family adversity, particularly those revolving around conflict and detachment, have a pronounced impact on the mental well-being of Chinese adolescents, while implying separation from parents potentially offered a protective effect. Consequently, interventions targeted at parents and designed to alleviate destructive family dynamics and encourage healthier relationships can be crucial in promoting mental health outcomes in this demographic.
期刊介绍:
The aim of this journal is to publish conceptual, methodological and empirical papers dealing with quality-of-life studies in the applied areas of the natural and social sciences. As the official journal of the ISQOLS, it is designed to attract papers that have direct implications for, or impact on practical applications of research on the quality-of-life. We welcome papers crafted from interdisciplinary, inter-professional and international perspectives. This research should guide decision making in a variety of professions, industries, nonprofit, and government sectors, including healthcare, travel and tourism, marketing, corporate management, community planning, social work, public administration, and human resource management. The goal is to help decision makers apply performance measures and outcome assessment techniques based on concepts such as well-being, human satisfaction, human development, happiness, wellness and quality-of-life. The Editorial Review Board is divided into specific sections indicating the broad scope of practice covered by the journal. The section editors are distinguished scholars from many countries across the globe.