Social Support and Family Functioning during Adolescence: A Two-Wave Cross-Lagged Study

• Published in: International journal of environmental research and public health Vol. 19; no. 10; p. 6327
• Main Authors: Yu, Xianglian, Kong, Xiangtian, Cao, Ziyu, Chen, Zhijuan, Zhang, Lin, Yu, Binbin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 23.05.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescents; Child & adolescent mental health; Child development; Chinese culture; Epidemics; Families & family life; Female; Gender; Gender aspects; Health problems; Humans; Hypotheses; Male; Mental depression; Mental disorders; Mental health; Peers; Questionnaires; Schools; Sex differences; Sex Factors; Social factors; Social interactions; Social Support; Students; Students - psychology; Surveys and Questionnaires; System theory; Teenagers; China; social support; family functioning; adolescent; cross-lagged model
• ISSN: 1660-4601; 1661-7827; 1660-4601
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19106327

The influence of social and family factors on adolescent mental health has been widely valued. Considering adolescents' family systems in a broader social context facilitates a better understanding of their mental health, which also has special significance in the post-epidemic era. The purpose of the present study was to explore the relationship between social support and family functioning during adolescence. Students from two middle schools in Fujian province, China, were recruited as participants. Seven hundred and fifty-four participants completed the questionnaire twice in six-month intervals. We constructed a cross-lagged model by using IBM SPSS AMOS 26.0 to test the relationship between these two variables. Social support and family functioning predicted each other in the girls, but not for the boys' sample. The results of this study suggested that the interaction between family and social factors and the possible gender differences should be considered when dealing with adolescents' mental health problems.