Communication on emotions is an important aspect of parent-adolescent communication, yet its process and effects remain less examined in families of adolescents. This study examined the bidirectional association between parental responses to adolescents’ emotions and adolescents’ emotional communication behaviors, and further examined their longitudinal predictive effects on adolescent depressive symptoms. The potential moderating role of adolescent gender was also examined. A total of 503 adolescents (M_age = 13.45, SD = 0.50; 44.73% females) participated in this study, with 438 adolescents completing the three-wave longitudinal survey. Adolescents’ emotional communication behaviors, parental responses to emotions, and depressive symptoms were reported. The bidirectional relationship was examined using cross-lagged panel models, while the parent- and adolescent-driven effects of emotional communication on adolescent depressive symptoms and the moderation effect of adolescent gender were examined using multi-group structural equation modeling. The findings revealed gender-specific patterns in parent-adolescent communication on emotions. Significant parent- and adolescent-driven effects of positive communication behaviors on adolescent depressive symptoms were found. However, only negative communication behaviors initiated by parents predicted adolescent depressive symptoms, with this effect mediated by adolescents’ negative communication behaviors. This study deepened the understanding of characteristics and effects of parent-child emotional communication during adolescence, which has implications for interventions aiming at improving parent-adolescent relationship and adolescents’ mental health.

情感沟通是父母与青少年沟通的一个重要方面，但其过程和影响在青少年家庭中的研究较少。本研究考察了父母对青少年情绪的反应与青少年情绪沟通行为之间的双向关联，并进一步考察了它们对青少年抑郁症状的纵向预测作用。还研究了青少年性别的潜在调节作用。共有 503 名青少年（M_年龄= 13.45，SD = 0.50；女性 44.73%）参与了本研究，其中 438 名青少年完成了三波纵向调查。报告了青少年的情绪沟通行为、父母对情绪的反应以及抑郁症状。使用交叉滞后面板模型检查双向关系，同时使用多组结构方程模型检查父母和青少年驱动的情感交流对青少年抑郁症状的影响以及青少年性别的调节作用。研究结果揭示了父母与青少年情感交流中的性别特异性模式。研究发现，父母和青少年驱动的积极沟通行为对青少年抑郁症状有显着影响。然而，只有父母发起的消极沟通行为才能预测青少年抑郁症状，而这种影响是由青少年的消极沟通行为介导的。本研究加深了对青春期亲子情感沟通特征和影响的认识，对改善亲子关系和青少年心理健康的干预措施具有重要意义。