IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/cysrev/v132y2022ics0190740921003844.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How beliefs about adversity predict depression among Chinese rural left-behind adolescents: The roles of self-esteem and stressful life events

Author

Listed:
  • Wang, Quanquan
  • Liu, Xia

Abstract

Adolescents who experience adversity, such as Chinese left-behind adolescents, are more likely to suffer from depression. Previous research has shown that positive beliefs about adversity could protect against depression, but little is known about the underlying mechanisms yet. To address this gap, the current study aimed to examine the mediating role of self-esteem and the moderating role of stressful life events in the relationship between beliefs about adversity and depression among left-behind adolescents. 534 Chinese left-behind adolescents (278 girls) completed self-report surveys addressing beliefs about adversity, self-esteem, depression, and stressful life events. The results showed that self-esteem fully mediated the relationship between beliefs about adversity and depression among left-behind adolescents. Moreover, stressful life events significantly moderated this mediation. Specifically, the indirect association between beliefs about adversity and depression via self-esteem was only significant in low-level stressful life events conditions but not in high conditions. Future interventions can be enhanced by promoting self-esteem and focusing on support through stressful life events.

Suggested Citation

  • Wang, Quanquan & Liu, Xia, 2022. "How beliefs about adversity predict depression among Chinese rural left-behind adolescents: The roles of self-esteem and stressful life events," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:132:y:2022:i:c:s0190740921003844
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2021.106308
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740921003844
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.childyouth.2021.106308?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Daniel Shek, 2005. "A Longitudinal Study of Chinese Cultural Beliefs About Adversity, Psychological Well-Being, Delinquency And Substance Abuse in Chinese Adolescents With Economic Disadvantage," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 71(1), pages 385-409, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yang, Banglin & Xiong, Cancan & Huang, Jin, 2021. "Parental emotional neglect and left-behind children’s externalizing problem behaviors: The mediating role of deviant peer affiliation and the moderating role of beliefs about adversity," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    2. Daniel T. L. Shek & Wenyu Chai & Kaiji Zhou, 2023. "Risk Factors and Protective Factors of Internet Addiction in University Students during the Pandemic: Implications for Prevention and Treatment," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(11), pages 1-17, May.
    3. Yao Fu & Jia Chen, 2022. "The Influence of Parental Migration on Left-behind Children’s Mental Health in China: the Mediating Roles of Daily Stress and Sense-Making," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(5), pages 2455-2477, October.
    4. Shu Hu, 2019. "“It’s for Our Education”: Perception of Parental Migration and Resilience Among Left-behind Children in Rural China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 145(2), pages 641-661, September.
    5. Lavrič, Miran & Naterer, Andrej, 2020. "The power of authoritative parenting: A cross-national study of effects of exposure to different parenting styles on life satisfaction," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    6. Kee-Lee Chou, 2013. "Familial Effect on Child Poverty in Hong Kong Immigrant Families," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 113(1), pages 183-195, August.
    7. Tak-yan Lee & Wai-man Kwong & Chau-kiu Cheung & Michael Ungar & Maria Cheung, 2010. "Children’s Resilience-Related Beliefs as a Predictor of Positive Child Development in the Face of Adversities: Implications for Interventions to Enhance Children’s Quality of Life," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 95(3), pages 437-453, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:132:y:2022:i:c:s0190740921003844. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/childyouth .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.