Depression as a mediator between parental strictness of rules and self-esteem. an investigation among italian and dutch adolescents

Background: A number of studies have established the influence of parenting on adolescent well-being. However few investigations have studied the effects of similar parenting behaviors across different countries. Italy and the Netherlands are two European countries that are socio-culturally quite different regarding many aspects of families' lives and structure. This investigation evaluated the possible mediating effect of depression between the relationship of strictness of family rules and self-esteem among Italian and Dutch adolescent populations. Methods: The sample consisted of 510 Italian and Dutch adolescents, living in the northwest of Italy and the northeast of The Netherlands, and was reasonably balanced for country (52% Italian, 48% Dutch), gender (48% female), age (mean age = 17.4 (S.D. = 1.4)). The Sobel test for mediation was used to explore possible mediation effects of depression between strictness of family rules and self-esteem. Results: The Sobel test for mediation showed that depression fully mediated the relationship between strictness of family rules and self-esteem, (z = -2.04, p < .001) among Italian adolescents; depression was not found to function as a mediator in the Dutch population. Conclusions: Further investigation is needed which could enhance our understanding of cultural and national nuances in the influence of parenting on adolescent wellbeing. Such efforts could assist in the transferability of adolescent wellbeing promotion efforts among different nations.