Relationship between parental marital status and psychotic-like experiences in university students and possible mediating factors

Hou Weiwei; Yue Lingyu; Li Yan; Lu Xiaohua; Peng Xing; Zhou Fuchun; Wang Chuanyue

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1009-6574.2025.10.003

Abstract：Objective To explore the impact of parental marital status and post-traumatic stress symptoms on psychotic-like experiences of college students,so as to provide a reference for the prevention of mental health problems in children from families with unstable marital status.Methods This study was a cross-sectional study.Using cluster sampling,all students in 16 schools of a university in northern China were selected from March to April 2023 for the study.The survey was conducted using the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Civilian Version and the 15-Item Positive Subscale of the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences.Logistic regression analysis was used to explore the factors influencing psychotic-like experiences.Process 3.3 plug-in in SPSS 22.0 was used for the mediating effect test.A total of 21 573 valid questionnaires were included in the analysis.Results The positive rates of psychotic-like experiences and subthreshold post-traumatic stress disorder(PTSD)in university students were 8.26％(1 782/21 573)and 14.92％(3 219/21 573),respectively.Differences in rates of subthreshold PTSD across gender,educational level,family history of mental illness,and parental marital status were statistically significant(χ2=54.00,224.15,87.63,299.77;all P<0.05).Differences in rates of high psychotic-like experiences were statistically significant across gender,educational level,home location,family history of mental illness,and parental marital status(χ2=7.36,215.56,13.08,61.76,183.72;all P<0.05).Univariate and multivariate Logistic regression analyses revealed that unstable parental marital status[OR=2.20,95％CI(1.96,2.47);OR=1.53,95％CI(1.35,1.74)]and subthreshold PTSD[OR=10.10,95％CI(9.11,11.20);OR=8.99,95％CI(8.09,9.99)]were risk factors for high psychotic-like experiences,and the differences were statistically significant(all P<0.05).Controlling for the confounding variables of gender,age,education level,home location,only child,and family history of mental illness,unstable parental marital status positively predicted post-traumatic stress symptoms(β=4.41,P<0.001),post-traumatic stress symptoms positively predicted psychotic-like experiences,(β=0.19,P<0.001),and unstable parental marital status positively predicted psychotic-like experience(β=1.24,P<0.001),with all statistical differences.The mediating effect test showed that post-traumatic stress symptoms and each dimension(trauma re-experience symptoms,avoidance and numbness symptoms,and increased alertness symptoms)partially mediated the parental marital status of university students and psychotic-like experiences,with mediating effects accounting for 66.94％,52.42％,58.87％,and 56.45％of the total effect,respectively.Conclusions Parental marital status,post-traumatic stress symptoms,and psychotic-like experiences in university students are closely related.Post-traumatic stress symptoms can partially mediate the effect of parental marital status on psychotic-like experiences among university students.