A prospective study of psychological resilience and depression among left-behind children in China. (April 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wu, Yi-Le; Zhao, Xue; Ding, Xiu-Xiu; Yang, Hui-Yun; Qian, Zhen-Zhong; Feng, Fang; Lu, Shan-Shan; Hu, Cai-Yun; Gong, Feng-Feng; Sun, Ye-Huan
• Is Part Of: Journal of health psychology. Volume 22:Number 5(2017)
• Page Start: 627
• Page End: 636
• Publication Date: 2017-04
• Subjects: depression -- family function -- left-behind children -- longitudinal study -- psychological resilience; Clinical health psychology -- Periodicals; 613.019
• DOI: 10.1177/1359105315610811
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1359-1053

Abstract

This prospective study examined the longitudinal effects of psychological resilience on depression in a Chinese sample of left-behind children. A total of 386 left-behind children completed both a baseline and a 1-year follow-up survey. The prevalence of depression at the baseline and 1-year follow-up was 12.7 and 8.5 per cent, respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed that older age and baseline depressive symptoms were positively associated with follow-up depression, while psychological resilience and quality of life were negatively related to follow-up depression. Our findings provided preliminary evidence that higher psychological resilience was a significantly protective factor of developing depression among left-behind children.