Abstract
To examine the level of depressive symptoms of the secondary school students in Turkey and Canada has been aimed in this study. The research group of the study consists of 1050 secondary school students with the average age of 13. Their socio-economic levels are low in both countries, Canada and Turkey. Data has been analyzed by independent groups t-Test, Two Way ANOVA and Tukey HSD Test. The study revealed that the level of depressive symptoms of Turkish secondary school students has been found higher than the level of depressive symptoms of Canadian secondary school students. While the levels of depressive symptoms of the Canadian female students have been higher than male students, the level of depressive symptoms of Turkish students has not differentiated in terms of their genders. While the common interactions of the educational levels of Turkish students’ parents on depressive symptoms have been found significant, the levels of depressive symptoms of Canadian pupils have not presented any changes according to parents’ educational levels. The results of the study have been discussed and some suggestions have been presented. Keywords: depressive symptoms, secondary school students, early adolescent, Canada, Turkey.
Highlights
Individuals, thanks to self-confidence occurring during adolescence, tries to understand, learn and analyze what s/he is doing what to do and what kind of a person to become in the future
In the study focusing on examination of depressive symptom levels among Canadian and Turkish secondary school students, depressive symptom levels of Canadian and Turkish secondary school students were compared and the test values were found significantly higher among Turkish students
The depressive symptom levels of Turkish students did not differ in terms of gender whereas the Canadian students' depressive symptom levels differ in terms of gender and the girls' depressive symptom levels were found significantly higher than the boys'
Summary
Individuals, thanks to self-confidence occurring during adolescence, tries to understand, learn and analyze what s/he is doing what to do and what kind of a person to become in the future. This understanding and analysis is a change to take the first step for being an individual, and brings along certain problems. Along with problems experienced in the family, in social circle, at school, and in other places, a person experiences complexities in his/her own world. These experiences and complexities can be a factor for increase in negative feelings and thoughts. Small fluctuations are common in self-esteem of early adolescence period covering ages 11 through 14, it is not a normal situation that early adolescences feel long lasting hopelessness, negative thoughts, and desperateness (Steinberg, 2002)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
