The Relationships Between Interparental Conflict And Depression/Social Anxiety In Migrant Children: The Effects Of Parent-child Communication And Peer Attachment

Objective: Recently,researchers have paid more and more attention to the mental health status and social adjustment in migrant children,because these children have been a considerable and special group in China.Thus,it is important to explore their psychological characteristics and mechanisms.Additionally,the two microenvironment,family and peer relationship play important roles in the psychological adjustment in migrant children.Thus,the purpose of the current study was to examine the potential roles of parent-child communication and peer attachment in the relationships between interparental conflict and symptoms of depression and social anxiety in a sample of migrant children in China.Methods: 437 participants were selected from the two public schools for migrant worker's children in areas of Hangzhou and Jiaxing.The average age of the sample was 11.01 years old(SD = 0.56),with the range from 9 to 12 years old.All participants were administered to the five questionnaires including the Interparental Conflict Inventory,the Center for Epidemiological Survey Depression Scale for Children.Social Anxiety Subscale of the Self-consciousness Scale,the Parent-child Communication Scale for Adolescent,and the Inventory of Peer and Parent Attachment.Results:(1)Interparental conflict could positively predict depressive symptoms and social anxiety in migrant children;(2)Interparental conflict indirectly impacted depression and social anxiety through the mediator of parent-child communication;(3)Peer attachment could moderate the effect of parent-child communication on depressive symptoms of migrant children,but couldn't moderate the relationship between parentchild communication and social anxiety,and the relationships between interparental conflict and depression/social anxiety.Conclusions: Interparental conflict not only directly impacts the symptoms of depression and social anxiety of migrant children,but also indirectly impacts these two symptoms through the mediating effect of parent-child communication.Additionally,peer attachment moderates the relationship between parent-child communication and depressive symptoms.