Family socioeconomic status and mental health in Chinese adolescents: the multiple mediating role of social relationships

Background The purpose of this study is to explore whether social relationships of family and school contexts mediate the influence of socioeconomic status (SES) on Chinese adolescents’ mental health. Methods A school-based study was conducted among a sample aged 13–18 in East China (n = 6902). We used scales for measuring social relationships and self-rated mental health. Family SES was computed from subjective socioeconomic status, education and occupation of parents. The mediation model was tested by using Path Analysis in IBM SPSS-Amos. Results The results showed that SES can significantly influence adolescent mental health through parent–child relationship, student–teacher relationship and student–student relationship. The total effect, direct effect and total indirect effect were −0.209 (95% CI = −0.299, −0.136), −0.090 (95% CI = −0.174, −0.007), −0.119 (95% CI = −0.187, −0.078) for boys, and −0.337 (95% CI = −0.478, −0.230), −0.132 (95% CI = −0.283, 0.010), −0.205 (95% CI = −0.351, −0.085) for girls. Conclusion The link between SES and adolescent mental health can be explained by social relationships. Focusing on the parent–child, student–student and student–teacher relationship interventions may contribute to improving the mental health of Chinese adolescents, especially in low socioeconomic groups, as well as female students.