The Relationship Between Parental Warmth and Parental Pressure to Achieve with Adolescent Depression and Anxiety in China

Abstract

Adolescents in mainland China are under strong family pressure to excel academically, and they experience psychological symptoms at higher rates than those found in Western countries, but little attention has been paid to the association between the two. This study investigated the relationship between parental warmth and parental pressure to achieve academically, and two forms of adolescent psychological maladjustment (depression and anxiety). A sample of 997 students were surveyed in four high schools in Beijing, China. Results indicated that perceived parental warmth correlated negatively with adolescents' levels of anxiety and depression symptoms, perceived parental pressure to acheive correlated positively with anxiety and depression symptoms, and parental warmth moderated the relationship between perceived parental pressure and adolescents depression symptoms but not adolescents' anxiety symptoms. Gender differences were explored, with significantly stronger correlations found for boys than for girls between pressure and symptoms of anxiety and depression.