The impact of stress on depressive symptoms is moderated by social support in Chinese adolescents with subthreshold depression: a multi-wave longitudinal study.
BACKGROUND
Most studies have shown that negative life events and social support are important factors in the development and outcome of depression. It is unknown if these factors are important in adolescents with subthreshold depression. Thus, the current study examined whether high levels of social support from peers buffer adolescents exhibiting subthreshold depressive symptoms against experiencing further increases in such symptoms following the occurrence of negative events.


METHODS
Participants included 143 adolescents (aged 14 to 18; M=16.07, SD=.66) in Hunan Province China who were selected because they were exhibiting subthreshold depressive symptoms at the time of initial assessment. During an initial assessment, participants completed measures assessing social support from peers and depressive symptoms. Participants subsequently completed measures assessing depressive symptoms and the occurrence of negative events once every three months for the subsequent fifteen months.


RESULTS
The prevalence of lifetime subthreshold depression in Hunan was 22.9% (n=143). The results of hierarchical linear modeling analyses indicated that lower levels of social support from peers was associated with greater increases in depressive symptoms following the occurrence of negative events.


CONCLUSIONS
The results suggested that the association between the occurrence of negative events and increased depressive symptoms is moderated by social support from peers in adolescents with subthreshold depression in mainland China, in line with the buffering hypothesis.


CONCLUSIONS
The adolescent sample used in the current study was from Hunan, China, which could limit the generalizability of our results to other populations. In addition, given that it is possible that cultural context shapes symptom manifestation, future research should assess a broader array of symptom outcomes.
Yang
Juan
J
The Medical Psychological Research Center of the Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, PR China.
Yao
Shuqiao
S
Zhu
Xiongzhao
X
Zhang
Chenchen
C
Ling
Yu
Y
Abela
John R Z
JR
Esseling
Petra G
PG
McWhinnie
Chad
C
D000293:Adolescent; D044466:Asian People / Q000523:psychology*; D002681:China; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics; D012944:Social Support