Psychological and Material Pathways to Adolescent Well-Being: The Mediating Role of Depressive Symptoms

Background: Against the backdrop of rising family educational expenditures and increasing prevalence of adolescent depression, this study examined the parallel mediating effects of psychological and material pathways on adolescent well-being. Methods: This study analyzed data from 1151 adolescents aged 10– 19 years in the 2022 China Family Panel Studies (CFPS). A parallel multiple mediation model was used to examine two pathways: a psychological pathway in which future orientation is associated with well-being via depressive symptoms, and a material pathway in which educational investment is associated with well-being via depressive symptoms. Indirect effects and differences between pathways were tested using bias-corrected bootstrapping with 5000 resamples. Results: Future orientation was significantly negatively associated with depressive symptoms (β = – 0.257, p < 0.001), with a significant indirect effect on well-being via depressive symptoms (indirect effect = 0.167, 95% CI [0.107, 0.238]). Family educational investment was not significantly associated with depressive symptoms (β = – 0.036, p = 0.203), and its indirect effect was non-significant. The difference between the two indirect effects was significant (Δ = 0.157, 95% CI [0.101, 0.231]), indicating that the indirect effect via the psychological pathway was stronger than that via the material pathway. Conclusion: These findings provide preliminary evidence that future orientation, as a psychological resource, is associated with lower depressive symptoms and higher hedonic well-being among Chinese adolescents. However, owing to the cross-sectional design and measurement limitations (eg, a single-item measure of eudaimonic well-being), the results should be interpreted as statistical associations rather than causal pathways. They do not justify broad claims that challenge human capital theory or provide strong support for hope theory; rather, they suggest that psychological and material pathways may differ in their associations with adolescent mental health. Future longitudinal and, where feasible, experimental or intervention research using independent measures is needed.