This study examined the effect of parental achievement-oriented expectation on high school students’ depression and verified the mediating effect of peer relations on relations. Data were derived from the 7th wave (2016) of Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey (KCYPS), and 1,979 high school students were included. Descriptive statistics analysis, correlation analysis, multiple regression analysis, and a Sobel test were conducted using STATA. The main results were as follows. First, male adolescents perceived higher parental achievement-oriented expectation, lower peer relations, but lower depression than female adolescents. Second, parental achievement-oriented expectation was negatively related to adolescent peer relations but positively related to adolescent depression. This implies that adolescents whose parents have a higher level of achievement-oriented expectation have lower level of peer relations and higher level of depression. Third, adolescents’ peer relations significantly mediated the relation between parental achievement-oriented expectation and high school students’ depression. The result of Sobel test supported the significance of the mediating effect. The results highlighted a negative impact of parental achievement-oriented expectation on adolescents’ mental health, and addressed how parental achievement-oriented expectation affects adolescents’ depression by showing an important mechanism of peer relations, which was missed in previous research.
The Mediating Effect of Strengths Knowledge and Strengths Use on the Relationship between Perceived Parental Psychological Control and Career Adaptability in High School Students
