Interpersonal and Environmental Factors that Predict Depression in Lower Secondary School Girls
- Author:
Teoh Hsien-Jin
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Children, depression, temperament, life events, locus of control, social support
- From:Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences
2008;4(2):83-94
- CountryMalaysia
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
Objective: Numerous studies indicate that interpersonal and environmental factors have a role in creating depressive symptoms in children. The objective of the study was to find out how temperament, negative life events, locus of control and social support predicted children's depression. Method: In this study, 243 female secondary school students were surveyed to ascertain how these factors predicted depressive symptoms. Results: The results of the analysis yield several conclusions. First, that not all aspects of temperament predict depression, the strongest seems to be mood. Second, that how upset a child is with negative events is a stronger predictor of depression compared with the total number of negative events. Third, locus of control predicts depression and fourth, social support from friends and parents also predicts depression. Conclusion: However when all the above factors are taken in to account, locus of control, extent of upsetness with the events and social support from friends are stronger predictors, relative to the other factors.
