Psychological health as one of the most crucial indicators of successful adolescents has received considerable attention in the literature. High prevalence rates of various psychological problems amongst adolescents emphasize the significance of identifying paternal parenting behaviour that may reduce the risk of these problems. However, little attention has been given to how fathers influence their adolescents’ psychological health, especially in an Asian context. To address this issue, this paper presents a thorough discussion of past literature related to paternal parenting behaviour and psychological health of adolescents. The discussion begins with a review related to psychological health, paternal parenting behaviour, and followed by the relationships between paternal parenting behaviour and psychological health. Based on the review of the literature, several research gaps will be addressed at the end of this paper.
Introduction: Depressive symptoms are major public health issues with significantly increasing rates during adoles- cence. Specific factors and mechanisms associated with depressive symptoms still need to be identified. The present study aimed to examine direct relationships between paternal attachment and negative life events (NLE) to depres- sive symptoms. Indirect effect of automatic thoughts on the relationships was also examined. Methods: A sample of 1030 adolescents aged between 13 and 19 years (mean=15.36) was recruited using probability proportional to size cluster sampling from selected states in Peninsular Malaysia to complete self-report measures on the study variables. Results: Structural equation modelling indicated that paternal attachment in terms of secure, approachability and anxious fearful were directly associated to depressive symptoms. Broadly, increases in secure and approachability attachments followed by decreases in depressive symptoms. Adolescents who experienced anxious fearful attach- ment seemed to be more vulnerable to depressive symptoms. Moreover, results from mediation analyses revealed that automatic thoughts mediated the effect of two attachment variables (i.e., anxious fearful and responsiveness) and NLE to depressive symptoms. Conclusion: These findings shed light on the concurrent effects of attachment and life events on depressive symptoms, providing evidence on how to reduce depressive symptoms among adolescents. The current study also expands knowledge on the role of automatic thoughts as potentially relevant mediator. Interven- tion and prevention programs aimed at preventing adolescents from the deleterious effects of depressive symptoms should involve both parents and adolescents in order to promote optimal attachment relationships and minimize depressive cognitions in adolescents.