The role of parental conflict in predicting adolescent depression symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic: A longitudinal study

The present study was designed to investigate the association and the underlying mechanism between parental conflict and adolescent depression during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a longitudinal study, a total of 655 Chinese adolescents ranging from 13 to 16 years old completed a three-wave survey (W1, W2, W3) via a survey website. The data was collected three times: March 15–20, 2020 (W1, the outbreak period of the COVID-19 pandemic in Mainland China), June 20–25, 2020 (W2, the trough stage), and December 15–20, 2020 (W3, six months after the trough stage). The SPSS 16.0 software was used to investigate the relationships among study variables. The findings showed that a double-hump effect was found for depression detection among adolescents during the pandemic, with depression rates in W1 (26.9%) and W3 (29%) were higher than that in W2 (21.9%). The parental conflict subscales of content and resolution had a greater impact on adolescent adjustment than other subscales. The parental conflict had direct and indirect impacts (through reducing family support and increasing burdensomeness) on adolescent depression symptoms in W3. It was concluded that when the COVID-19 pandemic was in a trough curve for more than six months, adolescent adjustment was significantly impacted by the pandemic, and parental conflict was an important risk factor in predicting individual adjustment. Therefore, family intervention is recommended when improving adolescent adjustment during the COVID-19 pandemic.