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Effects of Family Context on Adolescents’ Psychological Problems: Moderated by Pubertal Timing, and Mediated by Self-Esteem and Interpersonal Relationships

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Abstract

We examined the potential mediational roles of self-esteem and interpersonal relationships that link the effect of family context on psychological outcomes in 5214 junior high school students. The moderating effects of pubertal timing were also examined. Pubertal development scores were used to measure pubertal status. Separate mediational models were examined across subgroups with different pubertal timings (i.e., early puberty, on-time puberty, and late puberty). Self-esteem and interpersonal relationships mediated the association between family context and psychological consequences. Although early-maturing adolescents tended to have more psychological problems, they were usually more strongly influenced by self-esteem than were their late-maturing counterparts. Self-esteem and interpersonal relationships were both important when dealing with adolescent psychological problems, particularly for those who mature early. Clinicians should be able to recognize these problems associated with pubertal transition and provide appropriate counseling with a focus on positive adaption to reduce adverse psychological and behavioral consequences.

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Acknowledgments

The Taiwan Youth Project was sponsored by the Academia Sinica (AS-93-TP-C01) and directed by Dr Chin-Chun Yi. The Center for Survey Research of the Academia Sinica is responsible for the data distribution. We thank Dr Yi and everyone else at the Academia Sinica and the Taiwan Youth Project for providing the data and for all the other assistance they gave us.

Conflict of Interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Funding Sources

This research was supported in part by the Taiwan Ministry of Education and in part by the Aim for the Top University Project at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU).

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  1. Department of Public Health, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan

    Chung-Ying Lin

  2. Department of Pediatrics, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, 138 Shengli Road, Tainan, 704, Taiwan

    Meng-Che Tsai

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  1. Chung-Ying Lin
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Correspondence to Meng-Che Tsai.

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Lin, CY., Tsai, MC. Effects of Family Context on Adolescents’ Psychological Problems: Moderated by Pubertal Timing, and Mediated by Self-Esteem and Interpersonal Relationships. Applied Research Quality Life 11, 907–923 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-015-9410-2

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