Middle School Students' Depressive Symptoms And Attachment, General Self-efficacy In Relationship Research

For the appearing rate of depressive symptoms in middle school students in China was straight relatively high in recent years, the present study was to discuss the prevalence of depressive symptoms in junior middle school students, and the ways that how related factors affected depressive symptoms. The objective of the present study was that it would provide data and references for the studies of depressive symptoms, and further our understanding of depressive symptoms in junior middle school students.Three Scales including Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS ), Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA), General Self-Efficacy Scale (GESE) were used for our research. Firstly the prevalence of depressive symptoms in junior middle school students was examined in a sample of 929 students. Then several factors that were related to depressive symptoms such as father attachment, mother attachment, peer attachment and general self-efficacy were discussed. Theses factors were then combined to construct a model to explain depression in early adolescent.The main findings were as following:1. Among these students, 29.82% reported depressive symptoms, including 22.50% of light depressive symptoms, 6.67% of middle leveled depressive symptoms and 0.65% of severe depressive symptoms.2. Depressive symptoms did not significantly differ between male students and female students, and among grades, but significantly differed between students from city and rural area (F=7.593, p< 0.01). The interaction between grade and area was significant (F=6.432,p< 0.01).3. There were strong negative relations between father, mother, peer attachment and depressive symptoms, general self-efficacy and depressive symptoms. Peer attachment was positively related to both father and mother attachment.4. A model was presented in which father attachment had an direct impact on peer attachment, meanwhile father attachment directly influenced both depressive symptoms and general self-efficacy and the influence of both father and peer attachment on depressive symptoms were partly mediated by general self-efficacy. Another model was presented in which mother attachment had an impact on peerattachment, meanwhile mother attachment directly influenced both depressive symptoms and general self-efficacy and the influence of both mother and peer attachment on depressive symptoms were partly mediated by general self-efficacy.We can conclude from the main findings that the prevalence of depressive symptoms in junior middle school students was high, depressive symptoms was closely related to father attachment, mother attachment, peer attachment and general self-efficacy. General self-efficacy was an important mediator between attachment and depressive symptoms.