The Relationship between Mother-Child Interaction and Mental Health of Adolescent Girls: The Mediating Role of Religious Identity

Introduction: Mental health of adolescent girls as future mothers is of great importance. The purpose of this study was to investigate the mediating role of religious identity in the relationship between mother-child interaction and mental health of adolescent girls in Yazd, Iran. Method: This study was conducted on 319 female students, studying at the tenth to twelfth grades of high schools in Yazd. In this study, Parent-Child Relationship Survey (PCRS), the Goldberg General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28), and Lotf-Abadi National-Religious Identity Questionnaire were used. The structural equation modeling was used to analyze data using AMOS software version 25. Results: The findings of this study, using the method of structural equation modeling, showed that the quality of mother-child interaction had a direct and significant effect on both mental health disorder (β = -0.16, P< 0.001) and religious identity (β = 0.31, P< 0.001). In addition, the results showed that religious identity had a direct and significant effect on mental health disorder (β = -0.16, P< 0.001). Furthermore, religious identity played a mediator role in the relationship between mother-child interaction and mental health disorder (β = -0.05, P< 0.05).Multiple indices were used to evaluate the model and the results showed that the proposed model had goodness-of-fit. Conclusion: Religious identity, as a protecting resource, helps adolescents against the stress and dangers, which arise from the puberty-related problems and increases their mental health. A good mother-child relationship has direct and significant relationship with the religious identity of adolescent girls. Therefore, the quality of relationship with mother, as a result of the religious identity development, can increase the mental health of female adolescents.