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Behavioral Sciences
Special Issues
Effects of Family Functioning on Adolescent Mental Health
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Effects of Family Functioning on Adolescent Mental Health

A special issue of Behavioral Sciences (ISSN 2076-328X). This special issue belongs to the section "Child and Adolescent Psychiatry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 8109

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Øyfrid Larsen Moen

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Health Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7034 Trondheim, Norway
Interests: adolescent; family; family functioning; family centered care; mental health

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The period of adolescence is considered a difficult stage in the transition process to adulthood and is characterized by significant changes mentally and physically. In addition, individual, social, and contextual transitions also occur. Mental health problems among adolescents have increased worldwide (World Health Organization, 2022). In the Western world, approximately 10–20% of the adolescent population experience mental health problems. Adolescents describe the importance of having a good friend, having parents to feel secure with, and having someone to talk to. This highlights the parental role and family functioning with a focus on strengths and resources in the family. Family functioning is essential in managing everyday life and can be described as a dimension that influences the family in relation to problem-solving, communication, roles, behavioral control, affective responsiveness, and involvement. This calls us to pay attention to family functioning and family support in families living with an adolescent who has mental health problems.

This Special Issue aims to identify the effect of family functioning on adolescents’ mental health and to identify interventions that enhance family functioning and psychological well-being to prevent them from developing more serious mental illnesses. We are searching for articles and reviews that will enrich our understanding of the importance of family support both within the family and to support the family. Moreover, we are interested in exploring how these interventions are effectively incorporated into both policy and real-world applications within various healthcare systems and in voluntary practices.

Dr. Øyfrid Larsen Moen
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Behavioral Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • adolescents
  • family function
  • family support
  • intervention
  • mental health
  • resources

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 533 KB  
Article
The Impact of Family Socioeconomic Status on Preschoolers’ Anxiety: The Serial Mediation Effects of Parenting Style and Psychological Resilience in Preschoolers
by Limin Zhang, Yuxuan Xia, Siying Zhu, Xiaoxiao Lin and Jiaxin Xiang
Behav. Sci. 2025, 15(11), 1443; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15111443 - 23 Oct 2025
Viewed by 571
Abstract
Anxiety is a common negative emotional experience among preschoolers that can significantly affect their physical and mental health development. Investigating the key factors that influence preschoolers’ anxiety and the mechanisms by which they act is important. This study aimed to examine the relationship [...] Read more.
Anxiety is a common negative emotional experience among preschoolers that can significantly affect their physical and mental health development. Investigating the key factors that influence preschoolers’ anxiety and the mechanisms by which they act is important. This study aimed to examine the relationship between family socioeconomic status and preschoolers’ anxiety and explore the mediating role of parenting style and preschoolers’ psychological resilience in this relationship. This study examined the relationship between family socioeconomic status and childhood anxiety from the perspective of family factors and personal psychological characteristics. The Family Background Questionnaire, the Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire, the DECA-P2, and the Preschool Anxiety Scale were distributed to 36,048 parent–child dyads (children aged 3–6 years) in China. The collected data were analyzed via SPSS 22.0 and Mplus 8.3. A set of serial mediation models was constructed to provide evidence supporting the role of the key factors of early childhood anxiety and their observed associations. There were two-way correlations between family socioeconomic status (SES), parenting style, psychological resilience, and anxiety level. SES demonstrated a significant negative association with preschoolers’ anxiety, with direct and indirect links between authoritative and authoritarian parenting styles and preschoolers’ psychological resilience. Specifically, SES was associated with lower anxiety in preschoolers through authoritative parenting styles and was linked to higher anxiety through authoritarian parenting styles. SES was also related to preschoolers’ anxiety through their psychological resilience. In summary, parenting style and children’s psychological resilience function as serial mediators in the relationship between SES and preschoolers’ anxiety. Family socioeconomic status significantly and negatively correlates with early childhood anxiety, and parenting style and preschoolers’ psychological resilience mediate this relationship, in this study conducted from the perspectives of both family factors and individual psychological traits of preschoolers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effects of Family Functioning on Adolescent Mental Health)
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15 pages, 373 KB  
Article
The Protective Role of Caring Parenting Styles in Adolescent Bullying Victimization: The Effects of Family Function and Constructive Conflict Resolution
by Haoliang Zhu, Haojie Fu, Haiyan Liu, Bin Wang and Xiao Zhong
Behav. Sci. 2025, 15(7), 982; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15070982 - 19 Jul 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1405
Abstract
Based on attachment theory and the McMaster family functioning model, this study explores the protective role and mechanisms of a caring parenting style in protecting adolescents from bullying, from the perspective of the family environment. Study 1, conducted in Southwest China with middle [...] Read more.
Based on attachment theory and the McMaster family functioning model, this study explores the protective role and mechanisms of a caring parenting style in protecting adolescents from bullying, from the perspective of the family environment. Study 1, conducted in Southwest China with middle school students (n = 4582), investigates the relationship between a caring parenting style and adolescent bullying victimization through a large-scale cross-sectional survey. The results show that both parents’ caring parenting styles are significantly negatively correlated with adolescent bullying victimization. Study 2, a two-wave study (n = 302), explores the protective mechanisms of a caring parenting style in adolescent bullying victimization. We not only observed again that a caring parenting style significantly negatively predicts bullying victimization but also found that family functioning and constructive conflict resolution play a chain-mediating role in this relationship. This finding not only supports the core hypothesis of attachment theory regarding the role of a secure base but also expands the theoretical model of bullying protection from a family ecological perspective by revealing a three-level transmission mechanism of parenting style–family system–individual capability, providing a theoretical anchor for the construction of a “family–school” collaborative intervention framework. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effects of Family Functioning on Adolescent Mental Health)
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13 pages, 441 KB  
Article
Development of the Parent–Child Communication Quality Scale from the Perspective of Children’s Psychological Needs
by Wenhui Lyu, Xiaohui Shi, Zhiheng Xiong and Yujie Mu
Behav. Sci. 2024, 14(10), 933; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs14100933 - 11 Oct 2024
Viewed by 5113
Abstract
Parent–child communication plays a crucial role in children’s healthy growth. Nevertheless, there is currently a paucity of instruments designed to measure the quality of parent–child communication from a psychological perspective. Accordingly, based on the self psychology theory, this study has developed the Parent–Child [...] Read more.
Parent–child communication plays a crucial role in children’s healthy growth. Nevertheless, there is currently a paucity of instruments designed to measure the quality of parent–child communication from a psychological perspective. Accordingly, based on the self psychology theory, this study has developed the Parent–Child Communication Quality Scale (PCCQS) to assess the quality of parent–child communication in terms of the extent to which children’s psychological needs are met. A total of 1095 urban children (50.9% girls, M = 9.92, SD = 1.15) aged 8 to 12 years in eastern China were surveyed in this study. The measurement structure of the PCCQS was examined using an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The results of the CFA supported the second-order, four-factor structure of the PCCQS, with the 15-item PCCQS consisting of four factors (i.e., mirroring, idealization, empathy, and appropriate response). In conclusion, the PCCQS has good construct and criterion validity, as well as high internal consistency and split-half reliability. The scale is therefore a valuable tool for assessing the quality of parent–child communication. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effects of Family Functioning on Adolescent Mental Health)
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