Parent-adolescent emotional communication patterns and adolescent depressive symptoms: A dyadic, mixed methods study

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• Parent-adolescent emotional communication is crucial for adolescent well-being.
• Understanding these dynamics is key to addressing adolescent mental health challenges, particularly depressive symptoms.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore parent-adolescent emotional communication patterns from both perspectives.
• To examine the relationship between these communication patterns and adolescent depressive symptoms.

Main Methods:

• A mixed-methods exploratory sequential design combining qualitative interviews and quantitative surveys.
• Qualitative phase: 21 parent-adolescent dyads interviewed; analyzed via inductive thematic analysis.
• Quantitative phase: 369 parent-adolescent dyads surveyed; emotional communication patterns identified via latent profile analyses.

Main Results:

• Six emotional communication patterns identified in the qualitative phase, with variations between high and low depressive symptom groups.
• Five distinct patterns emerged in the quantitative phase from both adolescent and parent reports.
• Adolescent depressive symptoms significantly differed across patterns, being lowest in adaptive communication and highest in maladaptive or limited communication patterns.

Conclusions:

• Parent-adolescent emotional communication patterns vary in quality and frequency.
• Specific communication patterns are strongly associated with varying levels of adolescent depressive symptoms.
• Concordance and discordance in reporting communication patterns relate to adolescent depressive symptoms, highlighting the importance of aligned perceptions.