Parent-child Communication and Children's Mental Health: The Mediating Effect of Peer Group Characteristics

This study aimed to examine the relationship among parent child communication, peer group characteristics and children's mental health. The data came from the 2013-2014 baseline China Education Panel Survey (CEPS), which involved 15,204 school-aged children. Structural equation modeling was employed as our method of analysis. We found that parent child communication was positively associated with children's mental health, while peer group characteristics partially mediated the associations between parent child communication and children's mental health. Specifically, positive peer group characteristics were more likely to play a positive mediating role. The results of this study showed that parent child communication may affect children's choice of friends, which in turn affects children's mental health. Findings demonstrate that parents should attach importance to the role of friendship management and provide guidance for children about their friendships.