Differences in Protective Factors on Depression in Youths : Comparative study between pre- and post-pubescents

Abstract

Depression in youths is an increasing public health concern. In order to prevent more cases of depressed youths, additional preventive research must be conducted to better understand the role of protective factors on depression. The present study observed effect-sizes and significance of pre-researched protective factors; parental monitoring, parental support, family structure, and sport participation, on Symptom Checklist-90 subscale scores, with a sample obtained from the Icelandic Centre for Social Research and Analysis. 2064 children aged 10-13 years old were compared to 1674 adolescents aged 15-18, using analysis of covariance method. Family structure protective factor did not have a significant effect on the pre-pubescent depressive scores, but had a significant effect for the adolescents’ depressive scores. There was an interaction effect of age and sex on depressive scores of the pre-pubescents, showing an increasing trend in depressive scores after 5th grade in females. Due to violations of assumptions and differences in sample size, the validity of the study was questioned. Future research on preventive processes in youths are needed for an effective preventive policy.Keywords: Prevention, youth mental health, effect-sizes, protective factors, gender-differences, SCL-90.

Þunglyndi ungmenna er vaxandi lýðheilsuvandamál. Til að koma í veg fyrir auknum tilfellum þunglyndi ungmenna eru forvarnarrannsóknir þörfar til að skilja betur hlutverk verndandi þátta á þunglyndi. Rannsóknin skoðaði áhrifastærðir og marktekt á fyrrþekktum verndandi þáttum; foreldravöktun, foreldrastuðningur, fjölskylduuppbygging og þátttaka í íþróttum, á skor Symptom Checklist-90 þunglyndisundirkvarða, með gögnum frá Rannsókn og Greiningu. 2064 börn á aldrinum 10-13 ára voru borin saman við 1674 unglinga á aldrinum 15-18 ára, með samdreifigreiningu. Fjölskylduuppbygging hafði ekki marktæk áhrif á þunglyndisskor barnanna, en hafði marktæk áhrif á þunglyndisskor unglingana. Það voru samvirkniáhrif á milli aldurs og kyns á þunglyndisskor hjá börnunum sem sýnir stefnutilhneigingu þunglyndisskora eftir fimmta bekk hjá stúlkum. Vegna brostinna forsenda og mismun úrtaksstærðar hópana eru efasemdir um réttmæti rannsóknarinnar. Framtíðarrannsóknir á verndandi áhrifum hjá ungmennum eru þörfar fyrir árangursríka forvarnarstarfsemi.Lykilhugtök: Forvarnir, ungmennageðheilsa, áhrifastærðir, verndandi þættir, kynjamunur, SCL-90.