Effect of Academic Stress on Depression in Adolescents: Mediating Effect of Self-esteem and Moderated Mediating Effect of Parental Monitoring

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify the mediating effect of self-esteem and the moderated mediating effect of parental monitoring on the effect of academic stress on depression in adolescents. For this purpose, among the data from the 16th Annual Supplementary Survey on Children by the Korea Welfare Panel (Koweps), data from 319 people currently attending high school responded that they have a parent or an adult who acts as a parent. Reliability analysis, descriptive statistics, frequency analysis, and correlation analysis were performed using SPSS Win 24.0 ver., and the adjusted mediation effect was analyzed using SPSS PROCESS MACRO 4.2 ver. (model 7). The results are as follows: First, adolescents' academic stress was at the median level, parental monitoring and monitoring and self-esteem were at high levels, and depression was at low levels. Second, parental monitoring and monitoring were found to play a positive role in the impact of adolescents' academic stress on selfesteem. This means that parental monitoring buffers the negative impact of academic stress on selfesteem. Third, the impact of academic stress on self-esteem and depression was found to vary depending on parental monitoring. The significance of this study is that it suggests that adequate parental responsibility and attention, as well as improving adolescents' self-esteem, are important to mitigate the negative relationship between academic stress and depression during high school.