Parents’ Experiences of Discrimination and Children’s Depressive Symptoms: Evidence from China

There is a growing interest in whether and how parents’ experiences of discrimination may affect their children’s health and well-being. Considering that the intergenerational influence of discrimination on child well-being is still underexplored in China, there is an urgent need to determine whether children become depressed as a result of their parents’ discrimination experiences and to identify the pathways leading to their depressive symptoms. This study examined whether and how parents’ experiences of discrimination may lead to child (aged 10–15 years) depressive symptoms using data from the 2016 China Family Panel Studies (CFPS). The analytic sample included 1554 triads comprising children and both parents. Generalized structural equation modeling (GSEM) was employed to examine whether parents’ experiences of discrimination were related to child depressive symptoms through more serious parents’ depressive symptoms and greater tension between the two parents and between parents and their children. The analysis indicated that both mothers’ and fathers’ experiences of discrimination were indirectly related to children’s depressive symptoms through fathers’ and mothers’ depressive symptoms, parent–child quarreling, and interparental quarreling. The study also showed a crossover effect from fathers’ discrimination experiences to mothers’ depressive symptoms and indicated that fathers’ experiences of discrimination could influence children’s depressive symptoms through mothers’ depressive symptoms. The findings suggested that children whose parents were likely to suffer from discrimination, from either the father’s or mother’s side, could become vulnerable. Policies and practices targeting adult discrimination need to be extended to children to enhance parents’ awareness and improve their strategies for coping with discrimination.