Psychological Development and Education ›› 2024, Vol. 40 ›› Issue (3): 403-411.doi: 10.16187/j.cnki.issn1001-4918.2024.03.11

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The Relationships among Parent-child Cohesion, Sympathetic Nervous System Activity and College Students’ Depression under the Context of Parent-child Separation

WANG Lei1, BING Qian2, ZHAO Jingxin1   

  1. 1. School of Psychology, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250014;
    2. School of Education Science, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng 252000
  • Published:2024-05-15

Abstract: Parent-child separation puts the individuals at increased risk for suffering from depression. However, the effect of parent-child separation experience on the interaction between biology and environment on depression has not been revealed. A sample of 210 college students completed the questionnaires, semi-structured interview and experiment to examine whether the interaction between parent-child cohesion and sympathetic nervous system activity (SCLR) on depression varied with early parent-child separation experience. The results showed that: (1) Parent-child separation experience positively predicted depression, while parent-child cohesion negatively predicted depression; (2) The moderating effect of SCLR on the association between father-child cohesion and depression varied with parent-child separation experience. These results indicate that early parent-child separation experience could change the biological-environmental mechanism of depression.

Key words: early parent-child separation experience, parent-child cohesion, sympathetic nervous system activity, college students' depression

CLC Number: 

  • B844
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