Association between parental educational involvement and adolescent depressive symptoms: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Adolescents in their school-age period undergo rapid changes in various aspects, such as physiological development, academic pressure, and interpersonal relationships, constitute a high-risk group for depression. Parental educational involvement, as a critical family variable, influences not only children’s academic achievement but also their psychological well-being. However, previous research has shown significant discrepancies regarding the relationship between parental educational involvement and adolescent depressive symptoms.

To elucidate the overall strength of the association between parental educational involvement and adolescent depressive symptoms, this study systematically searched Web of Science, Medline, PubMed, CNKI, and other Chinese and English databases. A meta-analysis was conducted on 22 selected studies encompassing 36 effect sizes and involving 390,094 participants.

The results revealed a moderate negative correlation between parental educational involvement and adolescent depressive symptoms (r = -0.200, 95% CI [-0.26, -0.14]). Additionally, the relationship between parental educational involvement and adolescent depressive symptoms was found to be moderated by factors such as adolescent age, grade level and the reporter of parental educational involvement. However, it was not influenced by the female ratio or cultural background.

This study offers the inaugural comprehensive assessment of the relationship between parental educational involvement and adolescent depressive symptoms, with variations observed across different ages, grade levels, and reporter of parental educational involvement.