The effects of mother's education on college student's depression level: The role of family function

The aim of this study is to examine the mediating role of family function on the association between mother's education and their offspring's depression in college (M age = 19.19, SD = 1.60). A sample of 1177 student respondents was systematically sampled from 12 universities that include both generalist universities and specialist institutions in Beijing. The Family Assessment Device (FAD) and Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) were used to measure family function and students’ depression level, respectively. Multiple regression analysis indicated that mother's education was positively associated with college students’ depression and negatively associated with general family function. Mediation analysis indicated that mother's education significantly influenced students’ depression but the effect was not statistically significant when taking family function into account. General family function mediates the association between mother's education and depression of college students.