Development and validation of a depression scale for Asian adolescents

Abstract

Items covering both core and culture‐specific facets of depression were generated based on literature review and clinical experience. They were modified following focus group discussions with depressed adolescents and adolescents in the community. The newly constructed Asian Adolescent Depression Scale (AADS) was administered to a clinical and a community sample of adolescents together with other rating scales. The AADS comprised 4 factors (negative self‐evaluation, negative affect, cognitive inefficiency and lack of motivation) and demonstrated sound psychometric properties. Negative socially oriented self‐evaluation and cognitive inefficiency were important in Singaporean adolescents’ conceptualization of depression and are likely to be Asian culture‐specific dimensions.

Reliability and Validity of the Beck Depression Inventory-II among Korean Adolescents

“…One explanation could be that the Confucian values of East Asia put a great emphasis on education and academic achievement as a primary means for the individual to attain social status and self-fulfillment; hence, East Asian parents have enormous interest in their children's academic performance in high school and in the result of their children's college entrance exams 3233. It occasionally makes Asian adolescents feel overwhelmingly pressured to perform well academically 233435. As Asian adolescents spend most of their time studying, they may express their depressiveness through decline in academic achievement or difficulty in concentration.…”

Consequences of the Confucian culture: High achievement but negative psychological attributes?

“…It is true that Confucian Asian students generally do experience great pressure to achieve academically (e.g., Woo et al, 2004). At the same time research findings have pointed to their higher scores on measures of anxiety and lower scores on measures of self-efficacy or self-concept (e.g., Lee, 2009;Wilkins, 2004).…”

Unforgiving Confucian culture: A breeding ground for high academic achievement, test anxiety and self-doubt?

“…Furthermore, it has been noted that psychological scales developed in the Western context may not be optimal scales for use in Confucian Asia. For instance, two components of a depression scale identified in the Confucian Asian participants are not typically found as salient aspects of depression in Western culture (Woo et al, 2004). One component is labeled as "socially oriented self-evaluation", which has to do with concerns about social harmony.…”

“…This may be related to rapid industrialisation, relative lack of social safety nets such as cultural emphasis on looking after parents in old age as well as high social, employment, and marriage value of educational qualifications. It is generally accepted that Confucian Asian students experience tremendous stress due to familial and societal demands for academic success (Woo et al, 2004). However, this topic has been understudied so far and reliable epidemiological data are only now starting to emerge.…”