Does perceived parental rejection make adolescents sad and mad? The association of perceived parental rejection with adolescent depression and aggression

Purpose: To research the association of perceived parental rejection to adolescent depression and aggression. Methods: This study focused on 1329 Dutch junior high and high school students (47.9% males and 52.1% females; age range 10-19 years) that completed depression, aggression and perceived parental rejection questionnaires. The data were analyzed by structural equation modeling that assumed a relationship between perceived parental rejection and adolescent aggression, as mediated by adolescent depression. Results: Perceived parental rejection, mediated through adolescent depression, explains aggressive behaviors of adolescents, as tested by a mediation model. Additionally, the fit of this mediation model is somewhat enhanced when direct paths from perceived parental rejection to aggression are included. Further analysis demonstrates that these effects are also somewhat dependent on the gender and the age of the adolescents, as would be expected in light of previous studies of these cohorts. Conclusions: The study of perceived parental rejection should receive the same attention in the research of the development of both adolescent depression and aggression, as has been the case for adolescent peer rejection. (c) 2005 Society for Adolescent Medicine. All rights reserved.