The effects of parent-child relationship, study stress, and mobile phone use on depressive symptoms among Chinese elementary school students: a moderated mediation model

Introduction With the rising prevalence of depressive symptoms among younger individuals, depressive symptoms in elementary school students have become a focal issue of concern in society. This study investigated the association between parent-child relationship and depressive symptoms among Chinese elementary school students while testing a moderated mediation model to examine the mediating role of significant study stress and the moderating effect of frequent mobile phone use on this relationship. Methods We recruited elementary school students from grades 3 to 6 in S district of Chongqing, China, totaling 33,285 participants (51.72% girls; mean age = 10.36 years, SD = 1.24). Data was analyzed using structural equation modeling to assess the mediating and moderating effects of study stress and mobile phone use, respectively, on the relationship between parent-child relationship and depressive symptoms. Results Depressive symptoms prevalence in our study population was 16.3%. Both fair and poor parent-child relationships were significantly linked to an increased risk of depressive symptoms, with study stress serving as a mediator (indirect effects: fair parent-child relationship = 0.058, poor parent-child relationship = 0.031, p < 0.001). Frequent mobile phone use amplified the impact of fair parent-child relationships on study stress (beta=0.024, SE=0.016, p < 0.05) and depressive symptoms (beta = 0.021, SE = 0.018, p < 0.05) but did not moderate the relationship between poor parent-child relationships and these outcomes. Discussion These results emphasize the importance of nurturing parent-child relationship, monitoring study stress, and managing mobile phone usage to support students' mental health. Furthermore, the findings suggest that the impact of mobile phone usage on the mental health of elementary school students varies in complexity across different parent-child relationship contexts, providing valuable insights and recommendations for developing targeted preventive interventions for depressive symptoms in this demographic.