Parental overprotection and youth suicide behavior in low- and middle-income countries: a multilevel analysis of cross-national data

Associations between overprotective parenting style and academic anxiety among Chinese high school students

BACKGROUND

Increasing attention has been paid to the effect of overprotective parenting style, which is prevalent in China, on academic anxiety among high school students. The present study aims to clarify the intrinsic dynamic mechanism and explore gender heterogeneity in this relationship. We also analyze the mediating roles of self-concept and positive coping style, and identify intervention programs for academic anxiety and psychological disorders from these dynamic connections.

METHODS

Data were analyzed using a stratified whole-cluster random sampling method from a sample of 2,286 high school students aged 14-19 years in three regions of China: Shanxi (n = 784), Hebei (n = 675), and Henan (n = 827). Pearson correlation, ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis, path analysis, and Fisher's permutation test (FPT) were used to examine the effects of overprotective parenting style on high school students' academic anxiety.

RESULTS

There was a significant positive predictive effect between overprotective parenting style and high school students' academic anxiety ( β = 0.848, t = 144.855, p < 0.001). Students' self-concept was significantly and positively correlated with positive coping style ( β = 0.418, t = 20.720, p < 0.001) and served as mediators in this relationship. Additionally, overprotective parenting style may indirectly alleviate academic anxiety through these mediating factors. Gender variations were also revealed: female students (0.338) showed more negative effects of an overprotective parenting style on academic anxiety compared to male students (0.269).

CONCLUSION

The findings of this study indicate that overprotective parenting style increases the risk of academic anxiety among Chinese high school students. However, this effect is partially mediated by students' self-concept and positive coping style. Therefore, schools and educational policymakers should consider the interrelationships and interactions when designing intervention strategies for adolescents' academic anxiety and psychological disorders. The objective is to effectively decrease the occurrence of adverse behavioral outcomes among adolescents.

The relationships between perceived parental rearing, social support, PTSD, and depression in people living with HIV in China: a cross-sectional study

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression are two major psychological disorders that affect the mental health of people living with HIV (PLWH). The occurrence of PTSD and depression may be linked to perceptions of parental rearing styles in childhood. However, little is known about the relationship between perceived parental rearing styles, and PTSD and depression in the PLWH population. This study investigated 300 PLWH and explored the relationship between perceived parental rearing style, social support, PTSD, and depression. The results indicated that perceived paternal and maternal warmth were negatively associated with PTSD. Perceived maternal warmth and overprotection were negatively associated with depression. Social support acted as a mediator between perceived parental warmth, PTSD, and depression. Therefore, it is necessary to focus on patients who feel they experienced a lack of parental warmth during childhood and provide psychological care and support, which may help reduce the risk of developing PTSD and depression.

The Roles of Endorsement and Stigma in Suicidal Ideation and Behavior among Chinese College Students

Previous studies have suggested that stereotypes towards suicide, including endorsement of suicide and stigma toward suicide, may contribute to suicidal ideation and behaviors. However, this has not been examined directly. In this study, we examined whether endorsement of suicide and stigma toward suicide are involved in the pathway from suicidal ideation to suicide attempts among college students. To this end, we used the Suicidal Ideation Attributes Scale (SIDAS), the Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised (SBQ-R), and the Stigma of Suicide Scale (SOSS) to assess suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, endorsement of suicide, and stigma toward suicide, respectively, in a sample of 944 Chinese college students (mean age, 20.97 years). Using mediation analysis, we found that suicidal ideation partially mediated the relationship between endorsement of suicide and suicide attempts and between stigma toward suicide and suicide attempts. These findings provide novel evidence that endorsement of suicide and stigma toward suicide are closely associated with suicide attempts, but partially through the influences of suicidal ideation. Future studies should elaborate on their longitudinal relationships. Implications of these findings for clinical practices are discussed with reference to the ideation-to-action framework of suicide, aiming to reduce suicidal behaviors.

College students' screening early warning factors in identification of suicide risk

This study aimed to explore the main influencing factors of suicide risk among Chinese students and establish an early warning model to provide interventions for high-risk students. We conducted surveys of students in their first and third years from a cohort study at Jining Medical College. Logistic regression models were used to screen the early warning factors, and four machine learning models were used to establish early warning models. There were 8 factors related to suicide risk that were eventually obtained through screening, including age, having a rough father, and CES-D, OHQ, ASLEC-4, BFI-Neuroticism, BFI-Openness, and MMC-AF-C scores. A random forest model with SMOTE was adopted, and it verified that these 8 early warning signs, for suicide risk can effectively predict suicide risk within 2 years with an AUC score of 0.947. Among the factors, we constructed a model that indicated that different personality traits affected suicide risk by different paths. Moreover, the factors obtained by screening can be used to identify college students in the same year with a high risk of suicide, with an AUC score that reached 0.953. Based on this study, we suggested some interventions to prevent students going high suicide risk.

The impact of parenting styles on undergraduate students' emotion regulation: The mediating role of academic-social student-faculty interaction

Based on the survey data of 4,462 undergraduate students in Zhejiang Province, mainland China, this study investigated the influence of parenting styles on emotion regulation and the mediating role of student-faculty interaction. The study found that: (1) Male students scored significantly higher than female students on emotion regulation, overprotective parenting style and student-faculty interaction. (2) Parenting style has a direct positive effect on emotion regulation, and warm parenting style has a much greater effect on emotion regulation than overprotective parenting style. (3) The mediating effect of student-faculty interaction in the relationship between parenting style and emotion regulation holds true, with the mediating effect of academic student-faculty interaction being much higher than that of social student-faculty interaction. (4) The influence of warm parenting style on emotion regulation relies more on the direct effect, while the influence of overprotective parenting style on emotion regulation relies more on the mediating effect of student-faculty interaction.

Parenting Style and Suicidal Behavior: A Focused Review

Objectives. Parenting is the general child-rearing practice that has both long- and short-term impacts on the physical, emotional, mental, and social development of the children. We aims at seeing the relationship between parenting style and suicidal behaviors. Methods. A search was conducted in Medline, Embase, and PsychINFO to identify the articles assessing the relationship between different types of parenting styles and suicidal behavior. We included 32 articles in the review published from inception to search date. Results. Among the 32 studies, 27 studies used a cross-sectional study design, 17 were published between 2011 and 2020, and most of the studies included respondents with ages between 9 and 21 years. A wide variety of the used instruments to assess suicidal behavior, and parenting style was noted. Eight studies revealed that authoritarian parenting style is one of the predictors of suicidal behavior, while one study reported the authoritarian parenting style as a resilient factor. Both dominating and flexible parenting styles were associated with higher suicidal behavior, and two studies reported that the permissive style is a contributing factor to suicidal ideation among participants. Conclusion. This review identified the supportive notion that authoritarian parenting style has an association with suicidal behavior in adolescence, and later life. However, a prudential judgment is warranted due to the heterogeneity of study methods, population, contexts, and measurement tools.

Bullying and other risk factors related to adolescent suicidal behaviours in the Philippines: a look into the 2011 GSHS Survey

BACKGROUNDS

The present study retrospectively examined gender differences in bullying and suicidal behaviour (ideation, plan, and attempts) as well as associations between selected risk factors and suicidal behaviour among secondary school Filipino students.

METHODS

The study used a secondary data set from the GSHS developed by the World Health Organization, which was conducted in the Philippines in 2011. Participants included 5290 Filipino students (male N = 2279, female N = 2986). A two-tailed Chi-square of independence was used to test for gender differences and a multivariate logistic regression model explored statistical associations between risk factors and outcome variables.

RESULTS

Chi-square results suggested that gender differences were statistically significant for being bullied χ2 (1, N = 2384) = 10.6, p = .001, experiencing suicidal ideation χ2 (1, N = 857) = 61.7, p = .000, making suicide plans χ2 (1, N = 590) = 10.2, p = .001, and suicide attempts χ2 (1, N = 674) = 8.4, p = .004, with females showing higher vulnerability to examined risk factors. The logistic regression model also suggested that adolescents claiming to have no close friends were three to four times more likely to attempt suicide. Other strong predictors of suicidal behaviours were loneliness and getting in trouble due to alcohol consumption.

CONCLUSIONS

Bullying is an independent yet, not the strongest predictor associated with adolescents' suicidal behaviour in the present study. The strongest predictors of Filipino adolescents' suicidal behaviours in the 2011 cohort included having no close friends, loneliness, anxiety and getting in trouble due to alcohol use among both genders. Peer and mental health support programmes need to be made available and accessible for adolescents in the Philippines. Considering the increase in suicide rates in 2020/2021 among Filipino young adults due to the Coronavirus pandemic, it is suggested that preventing suicidal vulnerability in adolescence can hinder this occurrence later on in the lifetime.

Parental education and youth suicidal behaviours: a systematic review and meta-analysis

AIMS

Lower parental education has been linked to adverse youth mental health outcomes. However, the relationship between parental education and youth suicidal behaviours remains unclear. We explored the association between parental education and youth suicidal ideation and attempts, and examined whether sociocultural contexts moderate such associations.

METHODS

We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis with a systematic literature search in PubMed, PsycINFO, Medline and Embase from 1900 to December 2020 for studies with participants aged 0-18, and provided quantitative data on the association between parental education and youth suicidal ideation and attempts (death included). Only articles published in English in peer-reviewed journals were considered. Two authors independently assessed eligibility of the articles. One author extracted data [e.g. number of cases and non-cases in each parental education level, effect sizes in forms of odds ratios (ORs) or beta coefficients]. We then calculated pooled ORs using a random-effects model and used moderator analysis to investigate heterogeneity.

RESULTS

We included a total of 59 articles (63 study samples, totalling 2 738 374 subjects) in the meta-analysis. Lower parental education was associated with youth suicidal attempts [OR = 1.12, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) = 1.04-1.21] but not with suicidal ideation (OR = 1.05, 95% CI = 0.98-1.12). Geographical region and country income level moderated the associations. Lower parental education was associated with an increased risk of youth suicidal attempts in Northern America (OR = 1.26, 95% CI = 1.10-1.45), but with a decreased risk in Eastern and South-Eastern Asia (OR = 0.72, 95% CI = 0.54-0.96). An association of lower parental education and increased risk of youth suicidal ideation was present in high- income countries (HICs) (OR = 1.14, 95% CI = 1.05-1.25), and absent in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) (OR = 0.91, 95% CI = 0.77-1.08).

CONCLUSIONS

The association between youth suicidal behaviours and parental education seems to differ across geographical and economical contexts, suggesting that cultural, psychosocial or biological factors may play a role in explaining this association. Although there was high heterogeneity in the studies reviewed, this evidence suggests that the role of familial sociodemographic characteristics in youth suicidality may not be universal. This highlights the need to consider cultural, as well as familial factors in the clinical assessment and management of youth's suicidal behaviours in our increasingly multicultural societies, as well as in developing prevention and intervention strategies for youth suicide.

Parents parenting styles differences were associated with lifetime suicidal ideation: Evidences from the Chinese medical college students

This study aims to explore the association between parents parenting styles differences and lifetime suicidal ideation (LSI). The sample included 2598 Chinese medical students. Results showed that 10.5% of students reported LSI. Moreover, total differences in parenting styles (OR = 1.04, 95% CI = 1.02, 1.06), parental nurture rejects differences (OR = 1.11, 95% CI = 1.04, 1.18), parental emotional warmth differences (OR = 1.08, 95% CI = 1.03, 1.14), and parental overprotective differences (OR = 1.11, 95% CI = 1.06, 1.16), obtain a scholarship, physical disease and mental health were associated with LSI. The major finding reminds us of the importance of consistent parenting style for suicide prevention.

Risk and protective factors for childhood suicidality: a US population-based study

BACKGROUND

Childhood suicidal ideation and behaviours are poorly understood. We examined correlates of suicidality in a US population-based sample of children participating in the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. The ABCD study aims to examine trajectories of mental health from childhood to adulthood and collects information on multiple domains, including mental and physical wellbeing, brain imaging, behavioural and cognitive characteristics, and social and family environment. We sought to identify and rank risk and protective factors for childhood suicidal thoughts and behaviours across these multiple domains and evaluate their association with self-agreement and caregiver agreement in reporting suicidality.

METHODS

The ABCD sample comprises a cohort of 11 875 children aged 9-10 years. The sociodemographic factors on which the sample was recruited were age, sex, race, socioeconomic status, and urbanicity. Participants were enrolled at 22 sites, the catchment area of which encompassed over 20% of the entire US population in this age group. Multistage sampling was used to ensure both local randomisation and representativeness of sociodemographic variation of the ABCD sample. The data used in this study were accessed from the ABCD Study Curated Annual Release 2.0. Suicidal thoughts and behaviours (suicidality) in each child were evaluated through independent child and caregiver reports based on the computerized Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for DSM-5 (KSADS-5). We used bootstrapped logistic regression to quantify the association between suicidal ideation and behaviours, with measures of mental and physical wellbeing, behaviour, cognition, and social and family environment in participants from the ABCD study.

FINDINGS

Our study sample comprised 7994 unrelated children (mean age 9·9 years [SD 0·5]; 4234 [53%] male participants) with complete data on child-reported and caregiver-reported suicidal ideas and behaviours. Overall, 673 (8·4%) children reported any past or current suicidal ideation, 75 (0·9%) had any past or current suicidal plans, and 107 (1·3%) had any past or current suicidal attempts. According to caregivers, 650 (8·1%) of the children reported any past or current suicidal ideation, 46 (0·6%) reported any past or current suicidal plans, and 39 (0·5%) reported past or current suicidal attempts. However, inter-informant agreement was low (Cohen's κ range 0·0-0·2). Regardless of informant, child psychopathology (odds ratio [OR] 1·7-4·8, 95% CI 1·5-7·4) and child-reported family conflict (OR 1·4-1·8, 95% CI 1·1-2·5) were the most robust risk factors for suicidality. The risk of child-reported suicidality increased with higher weekend screen use time (OR 1·3, 95% CI 1·2-1·7) and reduced with greater parental supervision and positive school involvement (for both OR 0·8, 95% CI 0·7-0·9). Additionally, caregiver-reported suicidality was positively associated with caregiver educational level (OR 1·3, 95% CI 1·1-1·5) and male sex in children (1·5, 1·1-2·0), and inversely associated with the number of household cohabitants (0·8, 0·7-1·0).

INTERPRETATION

We identified risk and protective factors that show robust and generalisable associations with childhood suicidality. These factors provide actionable targets for optimising prevention and intervention strategies, support the need to identify and treat psychopathology in school-age children, and underscore the importance of school and family interventions for childhood suicidality.

FUNDING

National Institutes of Health.

Hormesis in Health and Chronic Diseases

'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger'. Hormesis, the paradoxical beneficial effects of low-dose stressors, can be better defined as the biphasic dose-effect or time-effect relationship for any substance. Here we review hormesis-like phenomena in the context of chronic diseases for many substances, including lifestyle factors and endocrine factors. Intermittent or pulsatile exposure can generate opposite effects compared with continuous exposure. An initial exposure can elicit an adaptive stress response with long-lasting protection against subsequent exposures. Early-life stress can increase resilience in later life and lack of stress can lead to vulnerability. Many stressors are naturally occurring and are required for healthy growth or homeostasis, which exemplifies how 'illness is the doorway to health'.