The epidemiological characteristics of depressive symptoms in the left-behind children and adolescents of Chongqing in China.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the prevalence rate of depressive symptoms in left-behind participants aged 7-17 years and to explore the associated socio-demographic and communication factors.


METHODS
Participants were 4857 left-behind children and adolescents in Chongqing. They were screened for depressive symptoms using a 27-item Children׳s Depression Inventory (CDI) and social-demographic variables were evaluated with a structured scale. Uncorrected Pearson chi-square test and logistic regression were applied to analyzing the data.


RESULTS
The total prevalence rate of depressive symptoms was 24.8%. Significant difference was found in the prevalence rate of depressive symptoms among groups of different income, grade, age, left-behind subtypes, and different frequency, ways and topics of parent-child communication. We found that the risk factors for depression were absence of parents, low frequency of parent-child communication, and communication by letter or about sensitive topics. The grade group 2-3 and age group 16-17 were at a higher risk of depression than all other grade and age subgroups. The protective factors for depression were high-income, high frequency of parent-child communication, communication by telephone or about such topic as learning experience, school life, and feelings.


CONCLUSIONS
Self-report bias and cross-sectional nature of the sampling are major limitations of this study.


CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence rate of depressive symptoms among left-behind children and adolescents in Chongqing is much higher than previously reported prevalence in other regions of China. The risk and protective factors for depression among left-behind children and adolescents are worthy of public attention.
Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology of Armyman, School of Psychology, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China.
Lifei
L
Wang
School of Psychology, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China. Electronic address: FZZ@tmmu.edu.cn.
Zhengzhi
Z
Feng
Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology of Armyman, School of Psychology, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China.
Guoyu
G
Yang
Chongqing Foundation for Poverty Alleviation, Chongqing 400020, China.
Yaling
Y
Yang
Department of Nursing Psychology, School of Nursing, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China.
Qin
Q
Dai
Key Applied Psychology Lab, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing 401331, China.
Chaobing
C
Hu
School of Psychology, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China.
Keyu
K
Liu
School of Psychology, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China.
Yu
Y
Guang
School of Psychology, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China.
Rui
R
Zhang
School of Psychology, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China.
Fan
F
Xia
Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology of Armyman, School of Psychology, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China.
Mengxue
M
Zhao
D000293:Adolescent; D017677:Age Distribution; D002648:Child; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003142:Communication; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
Adolescents; Children; China; Depression; Left-behind; Prevalence