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. Keywords: future orientation, educational investment, depressive symptoms, well-being, parallel multiple mediation, adolescents