Childhood Parental Emotions and Depression Among Middle‐Aged and Elderly Chinese: The Mediating Role of Adverse Childhood School Neighborhood Friendship Experiences

Abstract

Background: This study aimed to investigate the potential mediation effect of adverse childhood school neighborhood friendship experiences (ACSNFEs) in the relationship between childhood parental emotions and depressive symptoms.Methods: The study extracted data from 9489 participants from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) of 2014 and 2020. Depressive symptoms were assessed by the 10‐item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES‐D‐10). Stepwise regression based on least squares regression models, bootstrap tests, and Karlson–Holm–Breen (KHB)‐based logit regression models were applied to analyze.Results: Negative childhood parental emotions (β = 0.2030 and p < 0.001), negative childhood mother’s emotions (β = 0.3399 and p < 0.001), and negative childhood father’s emotions (β = 0.3866 and p < 0.001) were all significantly associated with higher severity of depressive symptoms. Bootstrap tests showed that the proportion of ACSNFEs mediated for childhood parental emotions was 14.03%. For childhood mother’s emotions and childhood father’s emotions, the mediating proportions were 15.32% and 13.57%, respectively. Moreover, KHB tests showed that the mediating effect still existed.Conclusions: The association between childhood parental emotions and depressive symptoms was partly mediated by ACSNFEs. Focus on developing parental emotional management ability, actively guiding parents to help children develop high‐quality friendships, and promoting the development of psychological health.