title: Risk and promotive factors related to depressive symptoms among Japanese youth.
abstract: Symptoms of depression include feelings of sadness, loneliness, suicidal ideation, and self-dislike. Adolescent depression is viewed as a problem in Japan, but there is little research on the correlates of depression in Japanese youth. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of depression in Japanese youth and to examine correlates of depression using a risk and promotive factor framework. This study examined the symptoms of depression among 802 Japanese youth attending postsecondary schools in the Sapporo area. Separate analyses were conducted for males and females to determine whether the importance of risk and promotive factors varied by gender. The results showed that many factors that had been linked to depressive symptoms in Western samples were predictive of depressive symptoms in Japanese youth. The risk and promotive factors accounted for 50% and 59% of the variance in depressive symptoms for the female and male subsamples, respectively.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Social Work, Denver University, Craig Hall, 2148 S. High Street, Denver, CO 80208, USA. jhaddow@du.edu
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Laser
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Luster
authors.forename: Toko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Oshio
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D044466:Asian People / Q000208:ethnology*; D002391:Catchment Area, Health; D003710:Demography; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008016:Life Change Events; D008132:Loneliness / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires