Cong Peng,1 Yan Shen,1 Zhenyun Zhang,2 Hongqun Chen,3 Shasha Ye,4 Yuanyuan Li,1 Ying Zhang,1 Qingqing Ren1 

1School of Education and Psychology, Hubei Engineering University, Xiaogan, People’s Republic of China; 2School of Computer and Information Science, Hubei Engineering University, Xiaogan, People’s Republic of China; 3Psychosomatic Medicine Department, Xiaogan City Social Welfare and Medical Rehabilitation Center, Xiaogan, People’s Republic of China; 4College of Physics and Electronic Information Engineering, Hubei Engineering University, Xiaogan, People’s Republic of China

Correspondence: Cong Peng, Email pengcong2023@hbeu.edu.cn Yan Shen, Email 1293305987@qq.com

Background: Research has demonstrated a significant association between cross-generational coalitions and children’s emotional well-being. However, the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain unclear, and prior studies have predominantly treated cross-generational coalitions as a singular construct, neglecting the varied impacts and pathways of different types of cross-generational coalitions on college students’ depression.
Purpose: Grounded in family systems theory, this study investigates the relationships and distinct underlying mechanisms linking three forms of cross-generational coalitions (coalition with fathers, coalition with mothers, and unstable coalition) to depression among college students, focusing on the chain mediating roles of self-differentiation and interpersonal adaptation.
Methods: A total of 493 Chinese college students aged 17– 25 years (55.2% male) completed anonymous questionnaires. The PROCESS macro Model 6 and bootstrap methods were employed to analyze the chain mediating effects of self-differentiation and interpersonal adaptation between cross-generational coalitions and college students’ depression.
Results: Each type of cross-generational coalition exhibited a significant indirect association with depression via the chain mediation of self-differentiation and interpersonal adaptation. Moreover, while all coalition types impacted college students’ depression through the mediating effect of self-differentiation, only stable coalition with fathers influenced depression through the mediating effect of interpersonal adaptation.
Conclusion: This study highlights that three types of cross-generational coalitions can affect college students’ depression through the chain mediation of self-differentiation and interpersonal adaptation. Notably, in comparison to coalition with mothers and unstable coalitions, coalition with fathers reveal distinct indirect pathways influencing depression. The study revealed the differential impacts of father-child and mother-child coalitions in a collectivist society, which significantly extend Bowenian family systems theory and attachment theory by elucidating the nuanced pathways through which cross-generational coalitions influence depression in college students. These findings deepen our understanding of how various forms of cross-generational coalitions serve as familial factors impacting the emotional well-being of Chinese college students.

Keywords: cross-generational coalitions, depression, self-differentiation, interpersonal adaptation, college students, chain mediation effect