Psychological maltreatment and depression symptoms among Chinese adolescents: A multiple mediation model

Abstract

Background: Adolescents are at risk of depression, and recent studies also found a high prevalence of depression among Chinese adolescents. Therefore, it is necessary to explore the risk and protective factors of depression among Chinese adolescents.

Objective: This study examined the direct effect of psychological maltreatment on depression symptoms in adolescents and the mediating roles of emotion regulation and social support in their relationship.

Method: Data were collected from Chinese senior high school students (N = 687, 36.5 % males and 63.5 % females, M_age = 16.44 years, SD = 0.78) who completed the measures of psychological maltreatment, depression symptoms, perceived social support, and emotion regulation strategies, including cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression.

Results: The results indicated that: (a) psychological maltreatment was positively correlated with depression symptoms; (b) the two emotion regulation strategies and perceived social support partially mediated the link between psychological maltreatment and depression symptoms separately; (c) the two emotion regulation strategies and perceived social support partially mediated the link between psychological maltreatment and depression symptoms in a sequential pattern.

Conclusion: Psychological maltreatment was positively associated with depression symptoms in adolescents. Emotion regulation and perceived social support both significantly mediated the relationship between psychological maltreatment and depression symptoms.

Keywords: Adolescents; Depression symptoms; Emotion regulation; Perceived social support; Psychological maltreatment.