Stressful events and depression among Chinese adolescents: The mitigating role of protective factors

Abstract

This study examines the role of salient external factors (family, peer and school caring relations) and internal factors (goals and aspirations, problem solving and self-efficacy, empathy, and self-awareness) in protecting adolescents experiencing interpersonal problems and academic pressure from depression. A total of 1,297 eighth and ninth grade students in Shandong province of Eastern China completed self-report measures. Results of hierarchical regression analyses indicated that interpersonal problems and academic pressure predicted depression positively. Peer caring relationships, home caring relationships, goals and aspirations, problem solving and self-efficacy, and self-awareness predicted depression negatively, but empathy did so positively. The interactions of home caring relationships with interpersonal problems, peer caring relationships with academic pressure, and self-awareness with academic pressure were negatively associated with depression. The relationships between interpersonal problems and depression, and academic pressure and depression, were less apparent for adolescents who had higher levels of peer caring relationships, home caring relationships, and self-awareness. The results suggest that school psychologists and counselors should note and build upon positive strengths while providing intervention services for adolescents experiencing depression related to interpersonal problems and academic pressure.

Adversity and resilience: A synthesis of international research

“…Martin (2013) investigated individual and school factors in his examination of the relationship between academic buoyancy, academic resilience, and negative outcomes in Australian youth. Zhang, Li, Gong, & Ungar (2013) not only considered the influence of individual and school factors, but also the roles of family and peer factors--and their interactions--in protecting at-risk adolescents from depression. Ungar and Liebenberg (2013) also considered the interaction between several ecological levels, examining how cultural and community factors interact with individual factors to predict school participation in multiply risked youth.…”

Interacting Effect of Catechol-O-Methyltransferase (COMT) and Monoamine Oxidase A (MAOA) Gene Polymorphisms, and Stressful Life Events on Aggressive Behavior in Chinese Male Adolescents

“…Therefore, the potential interactions among SLE and the COMT and MAOA polymorphisms may vary across distinct domains of stressful events, however, to our knowledge, this assumption still remains to be studied. The stressors included in the present study are limited to interpersonal problems and academic pressure, because previous research has indicated that in China both of the stressors are two SLEs that adolescents are frequently exposed to Liu et al (1997) and Guo et al (2009) , and furthermore may cause even greater problems for Chinese adolescents ( Zhang et al, 2013 ).…”

Defending behaviors, bullying roles, and their associations with mental health in junior high school students: a population-based study

“…It takes tremendous courage to intervene against bullying. As peer pressure is known to be associated with negative mental health outcomes such as depression [ 13 , 14 ] and social anxiety [ 15 ], it is therefore possible that defending behaviors would also be associated with such mental health outcomes. However, to date no study has explored the relationship between defending behaviors and mental health.…”