中華心理衛生協會

Purpose: This study uses data derived from a panel study (1996-1999) of Taiwanese adolescent development and adaptation to break through the limitations of cross-sectional studies and to model the trajectory of adolescents' depressive symptoms over time with the latent growth curve model. Several latent constructs related to adolescents' low self-esteem and their family context (such as harsh parenting and low satisfaction with the parent-child relationship) are treated as risk factors in order to examine the key mechanisms that negatively influenced the initial status and the rate of change in the adolescents' trajectories of depressive symptoms. Methods: Participants were 944 junior high school students who completed repeated measurements which were used to examine their individual trajectories and the impact of dynamic factors on early adolescent depressive symptoms. Results: The analysis showed that low self-esteem is the most influential risk factor on the trajectory of adolescent depressive symptoms, affecting both initial status and the rate of change of the trajectory. The vertical relationship between parents and children in the daily family context is a dynamic latent construct for adolescent depression. The perception of harsh parenting by the adolescent had impact only on the adolescent's initial status of depressive symptoms, while low-satisfaction with the parent-child relationship had significant influence on the long-term changing trajectory of the adolescent's depressive symptoms. Conclusions: The findings indicate that the impact of dynamic factors on trajectory of adolescents' depressive symptoms varies over the long term.