ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the association between emotional abuse, family structure, family support, type D personality and depressive symptom in junior high school students.Methods 3160 junior high school students were recruited with stratified sampling method in Guangzhou to conmplete a self-administered questionnaire including Depression Self-rating Scale for Children, Parent-Child Conflict Tactic Scale, Type D Scale-14, Family Structure Scale, Relative Support Scale and general information. Correlation and path analysis were performed to explore the association of emotional abuse, family structure, family support and type D personality with depressive symptom and their potential pathways. Results ( 1 ) The average level of depressive symptom was higher in girls than in boys, and age was positively related to depressive disorder (r = 0.06, P = 0.001 ).(2)Correlation analysis indicated that family support was a protective factor for depressive symptom,while emotional abuse, type D personality and family structure with single parent were risk factors for depressive symptom. (3)Data from Path analysis showed that the negative affection had the strongest impact on depressive symptom with a path coefficient of 0.37, followed by family support (-0.246),emotional abuse (0.203), social inhibition (0.075) and family structure (0.047). All the path coefficients were statistically significant. Emotional abuse indirectly impacted on depressive disorder through negative affectivity and family support (the path coefficients were 0.119 and 0.05,respectively), while family structure had the smallest indirect impact on depressive symptom.Conclusion Depressive symptom in junior high school students was affected by multiple psychosocial factors, suggesting that comprehensive measures should be taken to prevent the occurrence and development of depressive symptom.