Psychology Research and Behavior Management (Mar 2024)
Intergenerational Transmission of Mental Health Literacy and Its Mechanism: The Mediating Effect of Parent-Child Relationship and the Moderating Effect of School Mental Health Service
Abstract
Xinxin Wang,1,* Shengnan Wang,1,2,* Tingting Song,1,3 Kai Feng,1,4 Yongxin Li1 1Institute of Psychology and Behaviour, Henan University, Kaifeng, Henan, People’s Republic of China; 2Mental Health Service Center, Henan University of Animal Husbandry and Economy, Zhengzhou, Henan, People’s Republic of China; 3School of Psychology, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 4Academic Affairs Office, Henan University of Animal Husbandry and Economy, Zhengzhou, Henan, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Yongxin Li, Email [email protected]: Adolescents’ mental health literacy is a topic of growing interest and studies have begun to explore the factors that influence adolescents’ mental health literacy. This study investigated the relationship between parents’ mental health literacy and adolescents’ mental health literacy, as well as the mediating roles of parent-child relationship, and the moderating roles of school mental health service.Methods: Questionnaires were distributed to adolescents and their parents at two time points with an interval of one month. In the first survey, 835 parents completed a mental health literacy scale and a parent-child relationship scale. In the second, 841 adolescents completed a school mental health service questionnaire and an adolescent mental health literacy assessment questionnaire. A total of 617 paired data points were matched (parents’ age: M = 40.47, SD = 5.10; adolescents’ age: M = 13.34, SD = 0.99).Results: Bootstrapping results showed that parents’ mental health literacy was positively associated with adolescents’ mental health literacy. In addition, parent-child intimacy mediated the relationship between parents’ mental health literacy and adolescents’ mental health literacy. School mental health service moderated the relationship between parents’ mental health literacy and parent-child intimacy and adolescents’ mental health literacy.Conclusion: Intergenerational transmission of mental health literacy from parents to adolescents and its conditions were revealed. These findings provide new insights for the intervention of adolescents’ mental health literacy, and may lead future research to investigate the role of parents within the family context, as well as the influence of home-school cooperation on adolescents’ mental health literacy.Keywords: mental health literacy, intergenerational transmission, parent-child relationship, school mental health service
