Role of Perceived Social Support on Depression in Chinese Adolescents: A Prospective Study Examining the Buffering Model

Abstract

In response to the dearth of attempts to examine functions of perceived social support on depression in Chinese adolescents, a prospective study was conducted to examine the relationship among stressful life events, perceived social support, and depression. The present results provided support for the buffering model, indicating that the function of perceived social support in mitigating subsequent depression was prominent only under high stress levels. These results were discussed in terms of the socialized role of Chinese adolescents, as well as the function of esteem enhancement of perceived social support in alleviating depression. Reciprocal relationships between initial depression levels and subsequent levels of social support were also discussed. Possible counseling and prevention programs for Chinese adolescents are proposed.Recent Chinese research revealed that more than 20% of Chinese adolescents had symptoms of depression (e.g., Boys' and Girls' Clubs Association of Hong Kong, 1992; Shek, 199 la). As the underlying causes are scrutinized, depression for Chinese adolescents is most commonly related to problematic relations with family, friends, or romantic partners

The relationship between social support and student adjustment: A longitudinal analysis

“…While the results regarding perceived support from parents, classmates, and the school parallel those of previous studies (Cheng, 1997;Forman, 1988;Garnefski & Diekstra, 1996;Kashani et al, 1994;Licitra-Kleckler & Waas, 1993;Wenz-Gross et al, 1997), the lack of significant findings regarding teacher support contradicts prior research (Demaray & Malecki, 2002b, Malecki & Demaray, 2003. One possible explanation for this lack of significant findings may be that participants in this study experienced different sets of teachers across the three time points.…”

“…For example, adjustment and behavioral problems (Dunn, Putallaz, Sheppard, & Lindstrom, 1987;Kashani, Canfield, Borduin, Soltys, & Reid, 1994), delinquency (Licitra-Kleckler & Waas, 1993), withdrawn behavior and hopelessness (Kashani et al, 1994), emotional problems (Garnefski & Diekstra, 1996), depression (Cheng, 1997;Licitra-Kleckler & Waas, 1993) and lower self-concept (Forman, 1988;Wenz-Gross, Siperstein, Untch, & Widaman, 1997) have been shown to be related to low levels of family and peer support. Domitrovich and Bierman (2001) found that warm supportive parental practices were negatively related to different aggression and positively related to prosocial behaviors.…”

“…Next, it was predicted that parent and classmate support at Time 1 would be related to clinical adjustment variables at both Time 2 and Time 3 (Cheng, 1997;Demaray & Malecki, 2002a;Licitra-Kleckler & Waas, 1993;Malecki & Demaray, 2002). It was also predicted that school-related support from teacher and school-related sources at Time 1 would be related to school-related outcomes, specifically school maladjustment (Demaray & Malecki, 2002b;Furlong, Chung, Bates, & Morrison, 1995;Malecki & Demaray, 2003).…”

The relationship between perceived social support and maladjustment for students at risk

“…Thus low peer and family support are associated with negative indicators. Specifically, low levels of both peer and family support are associated with adjustment and behavioral problems (Dunn, Putallaz, Sheppard, & Lindstrom, 1987;East, Hess, & Lerner, 1987;Kashani, Canfield, Borduin, Soltys, & Reid, 1994), delinquency (Licitra-Kleckler & Waas, 1993), withdrawn behavior and hopelessness (Kashani et al, 1994), emotional problems (Garnefski & Diekstra, 1996), depression (Cheng, 1997;Licitra-Kleckler & Waas, 1993), and lower self-concept (Forman, 1988;Wenz-Gross, Siperstein, Untch, & Widaman, 1997). A higher level of family support is more often associated with better school adjustment and higher academic self-concept (Dunn et al, 1987;.…”

Social disorder, social integration, and subjective well-being among Latin-American immigrants in Spain

“…Efectivamente, la investigación también ha mostrado la importancia de la integración y el apoyo social para el ajuste psicosocial de los inmigrantes (Cheng, 1997;Díez-Nicolás, 2005;Leslie, 1992;Martínez, García y Maya, 1999;Mui, 2001;Vega, Kolody, Valle y Weir, 1991). Diversos estudios desarrollados en nuestro país con población inmigrante han constatado la importancia que tiene el apoyo social, especialmente en sus aspectos funcionales, en su bienestar y ajuste García-Ramírez, Martí-nez, Albar y Santolaya, 2002;Hernández, Alonso y Pozo, 2006;Hernández, Pozo, Alonso y Martos, 2005;Martínez, García y Maya, 2001.…”