Expressed emotion and its relationship to adolescent depression and antisocial behavior in northern Taiwan.
OBJECTIVE
Despite widespread recognition of the occurrence of antisocial behavior and depression in adolescents, the specifics of the relationship between them have not been clarified. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of expressed emotion as a proximal factor for depression and antisocial behavior among adolescents, by looking at direct and indirect relationships.


METHODS
Secondary data analysis using path analysis was carried out on 2004 data from the Child and Adolescent Behaviors in Long-term Evaluation project. The study sample consisted of 1599 seventh-grade students in Northern Taiwan. Variables included family factors, personal factors (sex and academic performance), expressed emotion [emotional involvement (EI) and perceived criticism (PC)], depression, and antisocial behavior.


RESULTS
We found that one dimension of expressed emotion, PC, directly influenced student depression and related indirectly to antisocial behavior. Depression was an important mediator between PC and antisocial behavior. Another dimension, EI, did not influence either depression or antisocial behavior. Sex was related directly to expressed emotion, depression, and antisocial behavior, and also indirectly to antisocial behavior through PC and depression. Academic performance was related directly to expressed emotion and indirectly to antisocial behavior through PC and depression.


CONCLUSIONS
Greater PC from parents directly contributed to higher levels of student depression and was related indirectly to more student antisocial behavior. It is suggested that parents should decrease overly critical parenting styles to promote adolescent mental health and avoid the development of antisocial behavior.
Lue
Bee-Horng
BH
Department of Family Medicine, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Wu
Wen-Chi
WC
Yen
Lee-Lan
LL
D000293:Adolescent; D000987:Antisocial Personality Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D019260:Expressed Emotion; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012649:Self Concept; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013624:Taiwan