Study: Instilling family obligation may decrease teenage depression

New research has found that if fathers use their parenting skills to create a sense of family obligation in their younger children it can affect their teenage years in a positive way.

The study, which was published in the Journal of Family Psychology, stated that 14-year-olds who reported a greater sense of family obligation had fewer depressive symptoms two years later.

Linda Juang and Jeffrey Cookston, both associate professors of psychology at San Francisco State University, authored the study and suggests that family obligation may be a protective tactic against symptoms of depression, which can be a common condition among teenagers.

Though the test was mainly focused on 218 Chinese-American teenagers, its lessons could be used by any father interested in providing a strong sense of family for his children.

Obligation, as it was described in the study, included caring for younger siblings and helping the elders of the family. This can also be a way for fathers to teach responsibility and respect, which may help the mental health of a child as he or she gets older.