Parental son preference and depression in later life: The moderating role of childhood friendship experience

Abstract

We investigated the relationship between parental son preference experienced during childhood and depression symptoms experienced by Chinese men and women aged 45 years and over. Data were obtained from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Studies conducted in 2014 and 2018. Multiple regression analysis was the primary method of model assessment, and the generalized propensity score method was used for robustness checks. We found there was a positive correlation between parental son preference and depression symptoms in later life. The relationship between parental son preference and depression symptoms was also age accumulative and there was a gender heterogeneity effect. Childhood friendship experience mitigated the positive effect of parental son preference on depression symptoms in later life. Our findings emphasize the influence of parental son preference during childhood on depression symptoms in later life, and show that childhood friendship experience can reduce the strength of this link.