Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Meta-Analysis
. 2020 Feb 15:263:155-165.
doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2019.11.118. Epub 2019 Nov 29.

Psychosocial risk factors associated with depressive symptoms among adolescents in secondary schools in mainland china: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Xinfeng Tang  1 , Suqin Tang  2 , Zhihong Ren  3 , Daniel Fu Keung Wong  4
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Psychosocial risk factors associated with depressive symptoms among adolescents in secondary schools in mainland china: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Xinfeng Tang et al. J Affect Disord. .

Abstract

Background: The objective of the study is to systematically estimate the effect size of psychosocial risk factors for depressive symptoms among adolescents in secondary schools in mainland China.

Method: A literature search was conducted in both English and Chinese databases. This meta-analysis used a random-effects model to estimate the effect size.

Results: Fifteen psychosocial risk factors were identified in a total of 164 articles. The results revealed the absolute value of effect size ranging from 0.16 to 0.43. Among them, poor parent-child communication (r = 0.43), negative life events (r = 0.40), academic pressure (r = 0.40), abuse (r = 0.33), poor family functioning (r = 0.33), bullying (r = 0.32), and poor family cohesion (r = 0.32) were associated with depression with a medium to large effect. Moderator analysis shows that grade, study quality, mean age, and gender were significant moderators of at least one factor for depression.

Limitations: Limitations included the heterogeneity which is largely unexplained, and the inability to investigate the interactions of different factors and to determine the direction of causal relationships between psychosocial factors and depression in the present meta-analysis.

Conclusions: This study suggests that family-related factors and school-related factors may be significantly associated with depressive symptoms in Chinese secondary school students. Further research is needed to develop effective strategies to modify these factors in depression prevention programmes.

Keywords: Adolescent; China; Depression; Meta-analysis; Risk factors; Secondary schools.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest ALL authors certify that they have NO affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest (such as honoraria; educational grants; participation in speakers’ bureaus; membership, employment, consultancies, stock ownership, or other equity interest; and expert testimony or patent-licensing arrangements), or non-financial interest (such as personal or professional relationships, affiliations, knowledge or beliefs) in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

LinkOut - more resources