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Factors Influencing on Depression among Middle-School Girls in South Korea

Thursday, 15 July 2010: 2:05 PM

Young-Ju Jee, MS
School of Nursing, Pusan National Univ., Korea, Pusan, South Korea
Haejung Lee, PhD, RN
College of Nursing, Pusan National University, Yangsan, South Korea
Hwa Yun Um, RN, BSN
Department of Health Education, Tokchon Girls' Middle School, Pusan, South Korea
Eunyoung Yun, MS
Department of Statistics, Pusan National Univ., Korea, Pusan, South Korea

Learning Objective 1: "The learner will be able to understand prevalence and influencing factors of depression among middle-school girls in South Korea."

Learning Objective 2: "The learner will be able to develop strategies to enhance mental health of school girls.”

Purpose: Depression has been risen a large public health concern among Korean school girls because of the high correlation between depression and suicide attempts. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of depression among school girls in Korea and identify influencing factors of the tendency of the depression. Methods: A self-report survey was conducted on middle school girls who are 2nd and 3rd grades in Pusan, South Korea. Four hundred one school girls were included in the study. The research instruments utilized in this study were CES-D, and SPSI-R (Social problem solving inventory - Revised). Household total income, school achievement, self perception of body-image, the presence of family members who can discuss their concern, and student's satisfaction of relationship with siblings, parents, and friends were also asked using questionnaires. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and multiple logistic regression using SPSS WIN 13.0 program.  Results: The average CES-D score of the participants was 20.68, which indicates the moderate levels of depression. Thirty five percent of the school girls in this study reported the tendency of depression. The significant predictors for the depression were no presence of family members who can discuss their concern, decreased problem-solving abilities, decreased self perception of body-image, and decreased satisfaction of relationship with friends.  Conclusion: Based on the findings of the study, girls in the depression group require special concerns. Regular depression screening test for school girls and developing prevention program in the middle school could be beneficial for the adolescents who shows tendency of depression. Group art therapy, enhancing family support system and problem-solving strategies can be applied for the vulnerable school girls and evaluate the feasibility and effects.
See more of: Adolescent Mental Health
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