The relationship between parent-child relationships and the types and transitions of mental health in Chinese early adolescents

This study aims to explore the transition patterns of mental health types in early adolescents in China, as well as the predictive roles of adolescent sex and parent–child relationships. The Dual-Factor Model of Mental Health provides a theoretical framework from a holistic perspective for researchers to assess individual mental health status. Accordingly, this study invited 799 early adolescents in China (425 male students; Mage = 13.05) to complete the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, Life Satisfaction Scale, and Parent-Child Closeness Scale at three time points (T1 and T2 with a six-month interval, and T2 and T3 with a one-year interval). The results showed that at all three time points, the mental health status of early adolescents in China could be categorized into three types with the same characteristics: Troubled, Vulnerable, and Complete Mental Health. Among them, Complete Mental Health had the highest stability, while Troubled had the lowest stability. Compared to female students, male students were less likely to belong to the Vulnerable category and more likely to transition from Troubled to Complete Mental Health. Harmonious parent–child relationships could reduce the probability of adolescents belonging to the Troubled and Vulnerable states and promote the transition from Troubled and Vulnerable to Complete Mental Health. However, there may be stage-specific differences in the association of father-child and mother–child relationships with the transitions of adolescent mental health types. The findings help to understand the complexity of mental health development in early adolescents in China and provide theoretical and empirical bases for guiding families and schools to take relevant measures to improve adolescents’ mental health status.