Parental demandingness : an investigation on its impact on the development of child rumination and depressive symptoms

Abstract

Past research established controlling, over-protective and intrusive parenting to be linked to the development of rumination and depressive symptoms in children. However, this finding was largely based on single-informant self-report studies in Western populations. This study investigated the effects of parenting styles on development of children’s ruminative tendencies and depressive symptoms in a local Hong Kong context, making use of an observational tool to assess parenting behaviors as well as a prospective design. 125 adolescents were recruited from local schools in Hong Kong, the final sample consisted of 103 youths. At baseline, participants completed questionnaires on depressive symptoms and ruminative tendencies. They also participated in an interaction task with one of their parent whom was nominated as their main caregiver. Their interaction was assessed using an observational scoring system (DPICS). At one-year follow-up, participants once again completed questionnaires on depressive symptoms and ruminative tendencies. A significant positive association was found between parental demandingness at baseline and rumination score at follow-up. Mediation analysis suggested that parent demandingness in terms of issuing commands to child predicts depressive symptoms at follow-up, and this relationship is mediated by the adolescent's ruminative tendencies. This finding corresponds to existing literature. Scientific and clinical implications of these findings were discussed. It was suggested that future research may further examine parental demandingness to enable a better understanding on adaptive parenting practices.