Family relationships mediate the association between material hardship and adolescent mental health.

Abstract

Families with material hardship face multiple challenges in family relationships and adolescent mental health outcomes. The present study aims to examine the underlying family processes linking material hardship, family relationships, and adolescent mental health. This study analyzed six waves of longitudinal data from 4,898 parents and their adolescent children in the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study. The data were collected at childbirth, ages one, three, five, nine, and 15. Structural equation modeling was conducted to construct latent variables of material hardship, cooperative coparenting, and parent-child closeness and to examine their direct and indirect effects on adolescent depression and anxiety. The results showed that material hardship in childhood was positively associated with adolescent depression and anxiety through indirect effects. Childhood cooperative coparenting and parent-child closeness were significant factors mediating the effect of material hardship on adolescents' mental health. Material hardship directly predicted reduced cooperative coparenting and indirectly predicted reduced parent-child closeness through this pathway. Cooperative coparenting was indirectly linked with lower adolescent depression and anxiety through increasing parent-child closeness. Finally, greater parent-child closeness predicted a lower likelihood of adolescent depression and anxiety. Findings suggest providing material, interparental, and parenting support for both mothers and fathers to protect adolescents against mental health challenges. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).