Associations of family relationships and negative life events with depressive symptoms among Chinese adolescents: A cross-sectional study.

Zheng Ren,Xiumin Zhang,Juan Ma,Minfu He,Xia Guo,Xinwen Fan,Meitian Liu,Yue Shen,Qi Wang,Xiaodi Yang,Ping Gong,Hongjian Liu,Ge Zhou,Wenjing Xiong,Kenji Hashimoto

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0219939

Zheng Ren, Xiumin Zhang + Show 13 more

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0219939

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Abstract

ObjectivesThe main objective of this study was to explore the associations of family relationships and negative life events with depressive symptoms among Chinese adolescents.MethodsA cross-sectional study of 3081 middle school students was conducted in Ganzhou City, Jiangxi Province, China. Students were asked to complete questionnaires regarding family relationships, negative life events, and depressive symptoms. A mediation analysis was carried out using a multiple regression analysis and the PROCESS macro method.ResultsOf all participants, 19.9% reported experiencing depressive symptoms. The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 13.0% and 29.2% in participants with good and poor parental relationships, and the prevalence of depressive symptoms was 11.4% and 30.9% in participants with closed and alienated parental-child relationships, respectively. Parental relationships, parental-child relationships, and negative life events were positively correlated with depressive symptoms. The effect of parental relationships on depressive symptoms was fully mediated by negative life events (Effect = 0.052, 95% CI = [0.023, 0.082]), while the effect of parent-child relationships on adolescent depressive symptoms was partially mediated by negative life events (Effect = 0.075, 95% CI = [0.048, 0.104]).ConclusionsOur results showed a high prevalence of depressive symptoms in Chinese adolescents. Poor family relationships may have the potential to increase the risk of depressive symptoms, and they could affect depressive symptoms through negative life events.

Highlights

Adolescence is a critical life transition period marked by substantial physical, behavioral, cognitive, and emotional changes, and it is a period during which adolescents are under considerable social pressure, especially in China [1, 2]
The effect of parental relationships on depressive symptoms was fully mediated by negative life events (Effect = 0.052, 95% confidence intervals (CI) = [0.023, 0.082]), while the effect of parent-child relationships on adolescent depressive symptoms was partially mediated by negative life events (Effect = 0.075, 95% CI = [0.048, 0.104])
Our results showed a high prevalence of depressive symptoms in Chinese adolescents

Summary

Introduction

Adolescence is a critical life transition period marked by substantial physical, behavioral, cognitive, and emotional changes, and it is a period during which adolescents are under considerable social pressure, especially in China [1, 2]. In China, a meta-analysis reported that the pooled point prevalence of major depressive disorders in children and adolescents was 1.3% [5]. Depressive symptoms, though not an adequate standard for the clinical diagnosis of depressive disorders, seem to be quite stable throughout adolescence, and individuals who experience depressive symptoms earlier in adolescence are more likely to continue reporting depressive symptoms later in life [6, 7]. A recent systematic analysis showed that 24.3% of adolescents in secondary schools in mainland China suffered from depressive symptoms [8]. Depressive symptoms can bring about many negative consequences, such as poor academic performance [9, 10], poor interpersonal relationships [11], and antisocial behaviors [12]. Depression can result in suicide [13]

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Conclusion