Abstract
Overwhelming evidence shows that poor family functioning is positively associated with adolescent psychopathology, but the psychological mechanism between the two has not been thoroughly explicated. Additionally, the reciprocal interdependence between family members regarding this association has been largely ignored in the literature. The present study filled those prominent gaps by evaluating a conceptually important but empirically less studied factor—materialism—in this association using the actor-partner interdependence framework. A convenience sample of 1330 mother-child dyads (pairs) with 14- to 17-year-old adolescents participated in this study, and the actor-partner interdependence model was employed to analyze this dyadic data. The analyses revealed that mother’s materialism was affected by the significant actor and partner effects of both mother’s and child’s family functioning. Importantly, mother’s materialism significantly mediated the negative association between mother’s and child’s family functioning and child’s internalizing and externalizing difficulties. In aggregate, the present findings indicate that mother’s materialism stands at a crossroads linking poor family functioning and adolescent psychopathology, and therapists or practitioners working with mothers’ materialism could break this vicious linkage.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
References
Achenbach, T. M. (1991). Manual for the Youth Self-Report and 1991 Profile. University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry.
Auerbach, R. P., McWhinnie, C. M., Goldfinger, M., Abela, J. R., Zhu, X., & Yao, S. (2009). The cost of materialism in a collectivistic culture: Predicting risky behavior engagement in Chinese adolescents. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 39, 117–127. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374410903401179
Bae, S. M. (2016). The influence of emotional difficulty, parent-child relationship, peer relationships, materially-oriented and appearance-oriented attitudes on adolescent problem behavior. School Psychology International, 37, 485–497. https://doi.org/10.1177/0143034316658802
Branje, S. (2018). Development of parent–adolescent relationships: Conflict interactions as a mechanism of change. Child Development Perspectives, 12, 171–176. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12278
Bronfenbrenner, U., & Morris, P. A. (2006). The bioecological model of human development. In R. M. Lerner (Ed.), Handbook of child psychology. Vol. 1: Theoretical models of human development (6th ed., pp. 793–828). Wiley.
Bu, H., Liu, I. K., Qu, D., Zhou, Y., & Yu, N. X. (2023). In)congruence in child–mother relationships and depressive symptoms in cross-boundary families. Journal of Family Psychology, 37, 1037–1047. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0001115
Burroughs, J. E., & Rindfleisch, A. (2002). Materialism and well-being: A conflicting values perspective. Journal of Consumer Research, 29, 348–370. https://doi.org/10.1086/344429
Calkins, S. D., Propper, C., & Mills-Koonce, W. R. (2013). A biopsychosocial perspective on parenting and developmental psychopathology. Development and Psychopathology, 25, 1399–1414. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579413000680
Chang, L., & Arkin, R. M. (2002). Materialism as an attempt to cope with uncertainty. Psychology & Marketing, 19, 389–406. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.10016
Chaplin, L. N., & John, D. R. (2010). Interpersonal influences on adolescent materialism: A new look at the role of parents and peers. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 20, 176–184. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcps.2010.02.002
Ching, B. H. H., & Wu, X. (2018). Parental conflicts and materialism in adolescents: Emotional insecurity as a mediator. Journal of Adolescence, 69, 189–202. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2018.07.019
Cox, M. J., & Paley, B. (2003). Understanding families as systems. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 12, 193–196. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8721.01
Cui, G., & Lan, X. (2020). The associations of parental harsh discipline, adolescents’ gender, and grit profiles with aggressive behavior among Chinese early adolescents. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 323. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00323
Cummings, E. M., Davies, P. T., & Campbell, S. B. (2020). Developmental psychopathology and family process: Theory, research, and clinical implications. Guilford.
Dittmar, H., Bond, R., Hurst, M., & Kasser, T. (2014). The relationship between materialism and personal well-being: A meta-analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 107, 879–924. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037409
Du, X., & Kim, Y. K. (2020). Family functioning and adolescent behavior problems: A moderated mediation model of caregiver depression and neighborhood collective efficacy. Children and Youth Services Review, 116, 105270. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105270
Ennett, S. T., Foshee, V. A., Bauman, K. E., Hussong, A., Cai, L., Reyes, H. L. M., & DuRant, R. (2008). The social ecology of adolescent alcohol misuse. Child Development, 79, 1777–1791. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2008.01225.x
Epstein, N. B., Ryan, C. E., Bishop, D. S., Miller, I. W., & Keitner, G. I. (2003). The McMaster model: A view of healthy family functioning. In F. Walsh (Ed.), Normal family processes: Growing diversity and complexity (pp. 581–607). The Guilford. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203428436_chapter_21
Fang, Y., Chen, Z., & Han, B. (2023). Congruence in Perceived Mother-child cohesion and informants’ depressive symptoms: A Dyadic Response Surface Analysis. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-023-01905-4
Finan, L. J., Schulz, J., Gordon, M. S., & Ohannessian, C. M. (2015). Parental problem drinking and adolescent externalizing behaviors: The mediating role of family functioning. Journal of Adolescence, 43, 100–110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2015.05.001
Flurry, L. A., Swimberghe, K., & Allen, J. (2021). Exposing the moderating impact of parent-child value congruence on the relationship between adolescents’ materialism and subjective well-being. Journal of Business Research, 128, 290–302. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.02.005
Hu, L., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6, 1–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705519909540118
Hummel, A., Shelton, K. H., Heron, J., Moore, L., & van den Bree, M. B. (2013). A systematic review of the relationships between family functioning, pubertal timing and adolescent substance use. Addiction, 108, 487–496. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.12055
IBM Corp. (2022). IBM SPSS statistics for Windows, Version 29.0. IBM Corp.
Jiang, J., Zhang, Y., Ke, Y., Hawk, S. T., & Qiu, H. (2015). Can’t buy me friendship? Peer rejection and adolescent materialism: Implicit self-esteem as a mediator. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 58, 48–55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2015.01.001
Jiang, W., Liu, H., & Jiang, J. (2021). The development of materialism in emerging adulthood: Stability, change, and antecedents. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 47, 293–306. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167220925234
Kasser, T. (2016). Materialistic values and goals. Annual Review of Psychology, 67, 489–514. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-122414-033344
Kenny, D. A., Kashy, D. A., & Cook, W. L. (2020). Dyadic data analysis. Guilford.
Kenny, D. A., & Ledermann, T. (2010). Detecting, measuring, and testing dyadic patterns in the actor–partner interdependence model. Journal of Family Psychology, 24, 359–366. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019651
Kerr, M., & Bowen, M. (1988). Family evaluation: An Approach based on Bowen Theory. NY, Norton.
Kline, R. B. (2010). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling (3 ed.). Guilford Press.
Lan, X., Marci, T., & Moscardino, U. (2019). Parental autonomy support, grit, and psychological adjustment in Chinese adolescents from divorced families. Journal of Family Psychology, 33, 511–520. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000514
Li, J., Wang, X., Wu, X., & Guo, Y. (2021). Early material parenting and adolescents’ materialism: The mediating role of overt narcissism. Current Psychology, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02196-3
Li, X., Zou, H., & Wang, L. (2009). A comparative study on school adjustment between migrant children in public schools and those immigrant worker children’s schools. Chinese Journal of Special Education, 9, 81–86.
Lv, M., Zhang, M., Huang, N., & Fu, X. (2023). Effects of Materialism on adolescents’ Prosocial and aggressive behaviors: The mediating role of Empathy. Behavioral Sciences, 13, 863. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs13100863
Markus, H. R., & Kitayama, S. (1991). Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion, and motivation. Psychological Review, 98, 224–253. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.98.2.224
Mastrotheodoros, S., Canário, C., Gugliandolo, C., Merkas, M., M., & Keijsers, L. (2020). Family functioning and adolescent internalizing and externalizing problems: Disentangling between-, and within-family associations. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 49, 804–817. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-019-01094-z
Opree, S. J., Buijzen, M., van Reijmersdal, E. A., & Valkenburg, P. M. (2011). Development and validation of the material values scale for children (MVS-c). Personality and Individual Differences, 51, 963–968. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2011.07.029
Paschall, K. W., & Mastergeorge, A. M. (2016). A review of 25 years of research in bidirectionality in parent–child relationships: An examination of methodological approaches. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 40, 442–451. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025415607379
Patalay, P., Fonagy, P., Deighton, J., Belsky, J., Vostanis, P., & Wolpert, M. (2015). A general psychopathology factor in early adolescence. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 207, 15–22. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.bp.114.149591
Peters, G. J. Y. (2014). The alpha and the omega of scale reliability and validity: why and how to abandon Cronbach’s alpha and the route towards more comprehensive assessment of scale quality. European Health Psychologist, 16, 56–69. http://ehps.net/ehp/index.php/contents/article/download/ehp.v16.i2.p56/1.
Podoshen, J. S., Li, L., & Zhang, J. (2011). Materialism and conspicuous consumption in China: A cross-cultural examination. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 35, 17–25. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1470-6431.2010.00930.x
Preacher, K. J., & Hayes, A. F. (2008). Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behavior Research Methods, 40, 879–891. https://doi.org/10.3758/BRM.40.3.879
R Core Team. (2022). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing. https://www.R-project.org/
Richins, M. L. (2017). Materialism pathways: The processes that create and perpetuate materialism. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 27, 480–499. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcps.2017.07.006
Richins, M. L., & Chaplin, L. N. (2015). Material parenting: How the use of goods in parenting fosters materialism in the next generation. Journal of Consumer Research, 41, 1333–1357. https://doi.org/10.1086/680087
Richins, M. L., & Dawson, S. (1992). A consumer values orientation for materialism and its measurement: Scale development and validation. Journal of Consumer Research, 19, 303–316. https://doi.org/10.1086/209304
Rindfleisch, A., & Burroughs, J. E. (2004). Terrifying thoughts, terrible materialism? Contemplations on a terror management account of materialism and consumer behavior. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 14, 219–224. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327663jcp1403_4
Roberts, J. A., Tanner Jr, J. F., & Manolis, C. (2005). Materialism and the family structure–stress relation. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 15, 183–190. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327663jcp1502_10
Russell, C. A., & Shrum, L. J. (2021). The cultivation of parent and child materialism: A parent–child Dyadic Study. Human Communication Research, 47, 284–308.
Shek, D. T. (2002). Family functioning and psychological well-being, school adjustment, and problem behavior in Chinese adolescents with and without economic disadvantage. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 163, 497–502.
Shek, D. T., Dou, D., Zhu, X., Li, X., & Tan, L. (2022b). Materialism, egocentrism and delinquent behavior in Chinese adolescents in mainland China: A short-term longitudinal study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19, 4912. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19084912
Shi, X., Wang, J., & Zou, H. (2017). Family functioning and internet addiction among Chinese adolescents: The mediating roles of self-esteem and loneliness. Computers in Human Behavior, 76, 201–210. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.07.028
United Nations Children’s Fund. (2021). The state of the world’s children 2021: On my mind – Promoting, protecting and caring for children’s mental health. UNICEF.
Wang, C., Nie, Y., Ma, C., & Lan, X. (2022). More parental Guan, more academic engagement? Examining the moderating roles of adolescents’ gender and reciprocal filial piety. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 183, 78–90. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221325.2021.2007350
Wang, E., Zhang, J., Peng, S., & Zeng, B. (2021). The association between family function and adolescents’ depressive symptoms in China: A longitudinal cross-lagged analysis. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 12, 744976. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.744976
Wang, Y., Pan, J., Zhang, X., & Yi, C. (2015). The association between family factors and child behaviour problems using dyadic data. Child: Care Health and Development, 41, 1082–1089. https://doi.org/10.1111/cch.12211
World Health Organization. (2021). Comprehensive mental health action plan 2013–2030. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/igo/
Zhao, J., Tibber, M. S., & Butler, S. (2023). The association between materialism and perceived relationship quality in young adults. Current Psychology, 42, 23437–23447. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03353-y
Zhou, J., Li, X., Zou, Y., & Gong, X. (2022). Longitudinal relations among family dysfunction, depressive symptoms, and cyberbullying involvement in Chinese early adolescents: Disentangling between-and within-person associations. Development and Psychopathology, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579422001274
Acknowledgements
I appreciate mothers’ and their children’s voluntary participation in this research project. I also thank my collaborators for their assistance with data collection in China.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The author declares that there is no conflict of interest.
Informed consent
All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were by the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from all participants included in the present study.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Lan, X. Like mother, like child? Examining the direct and indirect associations of family functioning and materialism with child psychopathology using mother-child dyads. Curr Psychol 43, 17477–17486 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-024-05710-5
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-024-05710-5