한·중 고등학교 학생의 학업 스트레스와 우울 증상 간의 관계 연구

Abstract

This study aimed to compare the level of academic stress and depressive symptoms and examine the relative effects of academic stress on depressive symptoms of high school students in South Korea and China. A sample of 564 high school students in Seoul, Korea, and Beijing, China participated. Academic stress and depressive symptoms were evaluated using a self-report questionnaire. The data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, two-way ANOVAs, and hierarchical regression analyses. Major findings were as follows. First, the female students reported significantly higher overall academic stress and depressive symptoms compared to the male students. Students in South Korea reported significantly higher levels of study stress and career stress than students in China. However, significant differences in stress arising from expectations of parents and teachers and stress arising from self-expectations were found as a function of gender in the Chinese sample, while those did not found in the South Korean sample. Second, study stress, career stress, and stress arising from self-expectations influenced depressive symptoms both in South Korean and Chinese samples. However, academic performance stress influenced depressive symptoms only in the South Korean sample. These results were discussed in the similarities and differences in South Korean and Chinese culture.