The effects of transitions in parenting patterns on attachment insecurity and depression among Chinese adolescents: A random intercept latent transition analysis.

Parenting behaviors play a critical role in offspring's mental health and social adaptation during development. However, the transitions in parenting behaviors and their effects on adolescents' attachment insecurity and depression remain unclear, warranting further investigation. This study aims to examine the transitions in patterns of adolescent-perceived parenting behavior and the effects of these patterns on attachment insecurity and depression among adolescents. A total of 583 Chinese adolescents (58.0% girls; Mage at T1 = 15.50, SD = 1.58) participated in a three-wave longitudinal study spanning 15 months. We used random intercept latent transition analysis to explore the transition patterns of adolescent-perceived parenting behavior. The results identified six distinct parenting patterns: stable low involvement, stable warm acceptance, stable control, worsened control, reduced involvement, and reduced control and rejection. Adolescents' perceptions of parenting behavior patterns change over time, though half of these patterns remain stable during adolescence. Further analysis revealed that adolescents with the stable warm acceptance parenting pattern had the lowest attachment avoidance. In contrast, adolescents who belonged to the stable and the worsened control parenting patterns showed higher attachment anxiety and depressive symptoms. These findings highlight the importance for counselors and parents to recognize transitions in adolescents' perceptions of parenting behaviors. Targeted interventions, including fostering parental warmth, promoting appropriate involvement, and reducing overprotective parenting, may effectively alleviate attachment insecurity and depressive symptoms in adolescents. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).