Abstract
The complex interrelationships between family function and adolescents' depressive symptoms are not yet fully clarified, especially in China. Based on the family systems theory, this study explored the relationships between family function and Chinese adolescents' depressive symptoms by a 3-year longitudinal study design. Three waves of data were collected from 1,301 Chinese middle school students in Grade 7 to Grade 9. All participants completed the Chinese Family Assessment Instrument (CFAI) and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) once a year during the junior middle school period. Our results showed that both family function and adolescent depressive symptoms were stable in Grade 7 and Grade 8, but in Grade 9, family function increased and depressive symptoms declined. Furthermore, we found that the family function in Grade 7 negatively influenced depressive symptoms of adolescents in Grade 8, while adolescent depressive symptoms in Grade 8 negatively impacted subsequent family function in Grade 9, namely there was a circular effect between family function and adolescent depressive symptoms. These findings suggest that the associations between family function and adolescents' depressive symptoms are dynamic and time-dependent. Our study contributes to the intervention aimed at the reduction of adolescent depressive symptoms from the family perspective.
Highlights
Depression has become an alarming health issue among adolescents, with typical symptoms such as feelings of sadness, decreased interest, and suicidal thoughts [1, 2]
Data for the current study were based on three measurement waves, which were collected in October 2016 (T1; when adolescents just entered into junior school), 1 year later (T2; when adolescents had spent 1 year in junior school) and 2 years later (T3; when adolescents were in junior grade three)
One-way repeated measures ANOVA was used for the difference of family function and adolescent depressive symptoms among the three measurement times, respectively
Summary
Depression has become an alarming health issue among adolescents, with typical symptoms such as feelings of sadness, decreased interest, and suicidal thoughts [1, 2]. A recent study showed that the prevalence rates of depressive symptoms among early adolescents are rising rapidly, up to an astonishing incidence rate of 24.3% [4]. As a prevalent psychological disorder, adolescent depression was significantly associated with a series of impairments in cognitive, psychological and social functioning, such as academic failure [5], interpersonal problems [6], and even self-injury and suicide [7, 8]. Going through depression during early adolescence could even result in an increased risk of other health issues in adulthood [12,13,14]
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