The longitudinal mediating effect of growth mindset on the relationship between authoritative parenting style perceived by adolescents and depression

This study examined the longitudinal mediating effect of growth mindset on the relationship between parenting style and depression. This study analyzed the data of the of 4,398 participants, which were obtained from the Gyeonggi Education Panel Study, collected by the Gyeonggi Education Research Institute in Korea for a total of 6 years from 4th to 9th, using a multivariate latent growth model. The analysis result showed that, first, authoritative parenting style and growth mindset decreased over time, while depression increased over time. Second, the intercept of authoritative parenting style had a negative effect on the intercept of depression. However, the intercept of authoritative parenting style had no significant effect on the slope of depression. The intercept of growth mindset negative effect on the intercept of depression. In addition, the slope of growth mindset negative effect on the slope of depression. Third, growth mindset partially mediated the relationship between authoritative parenting style and depression. This study is meaningful in that it verified the developmental trajectory between variables, and the results suggest that it is necessary to develop and apply a program focused on improving growth mindset to prevent depression in adolescents.