Shift-and-Persist Strategy: Tendencies and Effect on Japanese Parents and Children's Mental Health1,2,3

Abstract

Low socioeconomic status has various adverse effects on health, which can be mitigated through the shift-and-persist (S-P) strategy. Studies have focused on how this strategy can affect health in the face of adversity. However, that children learn this strategy from positive role models, such as parents, is an unexamined precondition of the theory. This study presents one bit of supporting evidence for this precondition by examining the similarity in S-P among parent–child dyads using the actor-partner interdependence model. We also examine parent and child strategies related to depressive tendencies based on mixed results in relevant research. The results from 309 parent–child pairs indicate that shifting and persisting tendencies and depressive tendencies were similar among the parent–child pairs. Furthermore, regardless of their socioeconomic status, the parents' and children's persisting scores predicted lower levels of depressive tendencies as actor effects. Although this study does not fully support S-P theory, it provides important insights regarding similar patterns of strategic tendencies between parents and children and highlights the importance of positive role models.