Depression in Children and Adolescents on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau: Associations with Resilience and Prosocial Behavior

Buzohre Eli, Yueyue Zhou, Yiming Liang, Jin Cheng, Jiazhou Wang, Changbing Huang, Xi Xuan and Zhengkui Liu
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Buzohre Eli: CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Yueyue Zhou: CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Yiming Liang: CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Jin Cheng: School of Psychology, Beijing Sport University, Beijing 100084, China
Jiazhou Wang: CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Changbing Huang: CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Xi Xuan: Department of Law and Politics, Nankai University Binhai College, Tianjin 300270, China
Zhengkui Liu: CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 2, 1-12

Abstract: Depression in children and adolescents has become a serious public health problem worldwide. The objectives of this study were twofold: first, to investigate the status of depression among children and adolescents on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the highest plateau in the world, with an average altitude of more than 4200 m (13,776 feet), and second, to examine the associations among prosocial behavior, resilience, and depression. A cross-sectional study was conducted among children and adolescents from Yushu Prefecture on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. A total of 11,160 participants aged 10–17 years ( M age = 14.34 years, SD = 1.77; 51.4% girls) were included. Self-reported depression, resilience, and prosocial behavior were assessed. The prevalence of depression was 29.2% in the current study. Higher levels of prosocial behavior were significantly associated with lower levels of depression ( β = −0.25, p < 0.001). Furthermore, resilience significantly moderated the relationship between prosocial behavior and depression ( β = −0.08, p < 0.001); that is, resilience enhanced the protective role of prosocial behavior in depression. These findings indicate that resilience may play an important role in the associations between prosocial behavior and depression, which suggests that improving resilience is essential for the prevention and intervention of depression among children and adolescents on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Keywords: depression; resilience; prosocial behavior; children and adolescents; Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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