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

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the characteristics of parent–adolescent emotional communication patterns from the perspectives of both parents and adolescents and to further examine their relationships with adolescent depressive symptoms. A mixed methods exploratory sequential design was used. In the qualitative phase, 21 parent–adolescent dyads (adolescents aged 15.1 years, with 11 reporting high depressive symptoms and 10 reporting low depressive symptoms) were interviewed, and the data were analyzed via inductive thematic analysis. The quantitative phase surveyed 369 parent–adolescent dyads (adolescents aged 13.5, 48.5% female). Emotional communication patterns were identified via latent profile analyses, and adolescent depressive symptoms were compared across patterns. The qualitative phase identified six parent–adolescent emotional communication patterns depending on parental behaviors, adolescents’ needs, and family arrangements. Different patterns were observed between groups with high and low depressive symptoms. In the quantitative phase, five patterns emerged from both adolescent and parent reports. Adolescents’ depressive symptoms significantly differed across patterns regardless of the data source, with the lowest in the adaptive communication pattern and the highest in maladaptive or limited communication patterns. Reporting concordance/discordance was also associated with adolescent depressive symptoms. Parent–adolescent emotional communication patterns differ in frequency and quality. Adolescent depressive symptoms varied across patterns. Concordance/discordance in reporting was associated with depressive symptoms in adolescents.