Cognitive emotion regulation patterns in adolescents living in Hong Kong residential homes

Objective: Mental illness contributes to about 14% of the global burden of disease, and prevention is considered to be one of the most effective ways to reduce this burden. In a society where mental illness is generally stigmatized due to misconceptions and misunderstandings about mental illness, prevention or intervention work becomes challenging. Adolescents aged 15 to 19 years have been found to have the least knowledge about mental health, despite the fact that studies had suggested the first onset of mental disorders usually occurs in childhood or adolescence. Moreover, studies have illustrated that adolescents with a two-parent family structure (both a mother and a father figure present) tend to be at lower risk for emotional and behavioral problems than those with a single parent family structure. Thus one would infer that adolescents living in residential settings would be a group of even higher risk individuals, since they are residing at the facility without either of their parents. Therefore this study aims to examine the resilience of adolescents living in residential settings towards symptoms of anxiety and depression. Method: Fifty-two adolescents from four group homes completed CERQ (Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire), Anxiety and Depression scales from BYI-II (Beck Youth Inventory II), and a brief demographic questionnaire. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to examine the relationship between: (a) depression with CERQ subscales and (b) anxiety with CERQ subscales. Pearson correlation analysis was conducted to examine the correlations between BYI-II measures of depression and anxiety. Lastly, hierarchical multiple regression was conducted to determine the best of set predictors for depressive and anxiety symptoms. Results: No significant relationships were found between all depression and anxiety with the CERQ subscales and the demographic information of the adolescents. Conclusions: Regardless of all independent variables, the most commonly used ER strategies were adaptive coping strategies; acceptance, refocus on planning, positive refocusing, and putting into perspective. Moreover, these adolescents are flexible in utilizing their ER strategies, thus increasing their resilience to depressive and anxiety symptoms.