title: Psychosocial correlates of depressive symptoms among 12-14-year-old Norwegian adolescents.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of the study was to examine the relationships between various psychosocial factors and depressive symptoms in early adolescence.
  
  
  METHODS
  A representative sample of 2,465 12-14-year-old adolescents comprising 50.8% girls and 49.2% boys, with a mean age of 13.7 years, was recruited in two counties in Norway. The participation rate was 88.3%. Depressive symptoms were measured by the Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (MFQ).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Correlations between the total sum of stressful events/daily hassles and the total sum of MFQ were moderately high, rs = .49 and rs = .53, respectively. Depressive symptoms were more strongly correlated with school-related stress among boys than girls, whereas the correlation between daily hassles and depressive symptoms was higher for girls than boys. The results of univariate analyses showed significantly higher mean total MFQ scores among adolescents not living with both natural parents, those who had moved more than twice and those with more than 3 siblings orhaving fewer than 2 close friends. Further, adolescents from Third World societies and adopted adolescents, those from lower SES groups, having unemployed parents or living in coastal areas had higher mean depressive symptom scores. The results of multiple regression analyses yielded the following six significant predictors of total MFQ scores in order of importance: Sum of daily hassles and sum of stressful life events, gender, number of friends, ethnicity and mother's employment status. Altogether, these variables accounted for 43% of the total variance in MFQ scores.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It is concluded that these psychosocial predictors should be addressed when assessing depressive symptoms in early adolescence. The findings of the study are discussed in view of previous research in the field and their clinical significance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Medicine, The Medical Faculty, The Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway. Anne.M.Sund@medisin.ntnu.no
authors.forename: Anne Mari
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Sund
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Larsson
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wichstrøm
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000339:Affect; D002391:Catchment Area, Health; D002648:Child; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D011584:Psychology; D012044:Regression Analysis; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires