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Jie Mi

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Open access Aug 2026

Unveiling gender disparities in mental health among Chinese preschoolers: partial statistical mediation by parental overreactivity

Objectives This study aimed to examine whether parental overreactivity is associated with the relationship between child gender and mental health in preschool children, exploring potential pathways that may underlie observed gender-related disparities. Methods A total of 21,366 children aged 3–6 years were recruited through stratified cluster sampling from 189 kindergartens across 13 districts in western China. Child gender (boy/girl) was treated as the exposure variable. Parental overreactivity was assessed using the Arnold–O’Leary Parenting Scale, and child mental health was measured with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), focusing on total difficulties and prosocial behavior. Multivariable logistic and linear regression models were applied, and mediation analysis was conducted to quantify indirect effects. Results Compared with boys, girls exhibited a 12% lower risk of total difficulties (OR = 0.88; 95% CI: 0.82–0.94; P = 0.0003) and a 21% higher likelihood of prosocial behavior (OR = 1.21; 95% CI: 1.14–1.28; P < 0.0001). Each one-point increase in parental overreactivity was associated with an 85% higher risk of total difficulties (OR = 1.85; 95% CI: 1.78–1.92; P < 0.0001) and a 34% reduction in prosocial behavior (OR = 0.66; 95% CI: 0.64–0.68; P < 0.0001). Girls experienced significantly lower levels of parental overreactivity (β = –0.04; 95% CI: –0.06 to –0.01; P = 0.0152). Mediation analysis showed that overreactivity statistically explained 16.22% of the gender effect on total difficulties and 7.49% on prosocial behavior. Subgroup analyses suggested stronger effects among families with lower socioeconomic status. Conclusions Parental overreactivity was identified as a statistically significant indirect factor in the association between child gender and early mental health. Girls showed lower parental overreactivity, which was statistically associated with more favorable psychological profiles. These findings suggest that parental overreactivity may represent a potential intervention target, and highlight the value of gender-sensitive parenting approaches for narrowing early mental health disparities.

Ziyi Wang, Jiahua Liu, Hongli Sun et al. · Frontiers in Psychiatry · 0 citations

Aug 2026

Paternal versus maternal depressive symptoms and child internalizing/externalizing problems: a comparative threshold analysis.

BACKGROUND Parental depression is a well-established risk factor for child psychopathology, yet most studies focus on mothers. Whether nonlinear patterns with thresholds exist, especially for fathers, remains unclear. This study examines these associations and identified optimal thresholds comparing mothers and fathers. METHODS This cross-sectional study included 21,366 parents (16,258 mothers and 5108 fathers) of children aged 3-6 years in western China. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CESD). Child internalizing and externalizing problems were measured with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Piecewise logistic regression with grid search identified thresholds, adjusting for demographic and socioeconomic covariates. RESULTS Higher CES-D scores were associated with increased odds of child problems (all P < 0.001). The gender by CES-D interaction was significant for externalizing problems (P = 0.019), indicating a stronger association in fathers. For internalizing problems, the optimal threshold was a CES-D score of 17 for both mothers and fathers. For externalizing problems, the threshold was lower in fathers (16) than in mothers (21). Below these thresholds, each one-point increase in CES-D score was associated with 10-16% higher odds of child problems. Above the thresholds, the associations were attenuated. Piecewise models fitted significantly better than linear models (all P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS Fathers' depressive symptoms were associated with child externalizing problems at a lower severity level compared with mothers, suggesting that screening for paternal depression even at subclinical levels may help identify families at elevated risk. The identified thresholds may help generate hypotheses for future longitudinal and clinical validation studies.

Minna Liu, Hongli Sun, Jiahua Liu et al. · Journal of Affective Disorde... · 0 citations