The Effect Of Emotional Security On Depressive Tendencies In Junior High School Students:Mediation And Intervention Of Interpersonal Trust

According to the Blue Book on Depression 2022,about 28 million people under the age of 18 suffer from depression,accounting for 30 percent of the total.Junior high school students are in adolescence,which is an important period for establishing interpersonal trust and good interpersonal relationship with others,as well as a critical period for establishing and perfecting self-identity and prone to psychological and behavioral adaptability problems.Therefore,it is very important to prevent and screen for depression during this period.Depressive tendency is a transitional stage between depressive mood and depression,and the intervention of depressive tendency can be the most important stage in the prevention of depression.Emotional security affects the establishment of a sense of security between junior high school students and others,making it difficult for them to establish a trusting relationship and even leading to depression.Therefore,this study firstly discusses the relationship among emotional security,interpersonal trust and depressive tendency of junior high school students.On this basis,an intervention plan for junior high school students’ interpersonal trust court is designed to improve the interpersonal trust level of junior high school students,their families and others through the combination of family sandplay and individual sandplay,so as to improve the depression tendency.In the first study,450 students from Grade one to grade three of a junior middle school in Yantai were tested by Emotional Security Scale,Revised Parent Peer Attachment Scale and the Center for Epidemiclogic Studies Depression Scale,and436 valid questionnaires were collected,with an effective rate of 96.89%.In the second study,the selected junior high school students carried out interpersonal trust intervention.There were eight family sandplay,16 individual sandplay,including two baseline sessions,eight intervention sessions and six follow-up sessions.The scores before and after the intervention on the Revised Parental Peer Attachment Scale and the Center for Epidemiclogic Studies Depression Scale were collected,and the data were analyzed using a single-subject experimental design.The results of study 1 found that emotional security significantly positively predicted depression tendency of middle school students(β= 0.48,t= 11.17,p<0.001).When the intermediate variable interpersonal trust was added,emotional security significantly negatively predicted interpersonal trust of junior middle school students(β=-0.29,t=-6.25,p<0.001),and interpersonal trust significantly negatively predicted depressive tendency(β=-0.39,t=-9.86,p<0.001).Emotional security still positively predicted depression tendency of middle school students(β= 0.36,t= 8.99,p < 0.001).Interpersonal trust partially mediates the relationship between emotional security and depressive tendency.In study 2,through the combination of individual sandplay and family sandplay,the interpersonal trust score of junior high school students increased from 47 points(including 18 points for mother,15 points for father and 14 points for friend)to 103points(including 38 points for mother,32 points for father and 33 points for friend).Positive words related to interpersonal trust structure such as self-worth,social support,social skills,self-efficacy,stress perception and other positive words appeared more frequently.The number and types of toys symbolizing communication,trust,sharing,hope,and renewal increased.The depression score decreased from 77 to 38,and the interpersonal trust score remained at 104 and depression score remained at 36 during the follow-up period of six months.Therefore,the sandplay intervention has a good and long-term effect,which can improve the interpersonal trust level of junior high school students and reduce the level of depressive tendency.In conclusion,the results of this study indicate that interpersonal trust plays a mediating role between emotional security and depression tendency of junior middle school students,and the family intervention scheme adopted in this study is effective,which can enhance the level of interpersonal trust of junior middle school students,and then reduce their depression tendency.Although the selected cases are not universal,the differences in individual performance in the intervention process and the experience in the intervention process can provide experience for future court intervention.It is hoped that the intervention of sandplay can be applied in middle school students to effectively reduce their depression level and ensure their mental health development.