A mediated moderation model of negative life events, self-esteem, rumination and parental divorce on depression among Chinese juvenile delinquents

Abstract

Little attention was paid to the prevalence of depression in Chinese juvenile delinquents who are studied in correctional work-study schools. Hence, the present study aimed to test the unique, mediating and moderating effects of negative life events, self-esteem, rumination and parental divorce on depression among Chinese juvenile delinquents. A total of 236 juvenile delinquents aged between 12 and 17 years old (M = 14.68 SD = 1.30) were recruited to accomplish a battery of self-report questionnaires concerning their negative life events, self-esteem, rumination, depression and demographic profile. The descriptive analysis showed that there was a positive correlation between negative life events and depression in Chinese juvenile delinquents. Moreover, the results from the structural model indicated that self-esteem and rumination played separate and sequential mediating roles between negative life events and depression. In addition, parental divorce had a moderating effect between negative life events and self-esteem in the model. These results suggest that the prevalence of depression among Chinese juvenile delinquents can be reduced through modification of the ruminative way of thinking, improving their self-esteem when they encounter a number of negative life events. Furthermore, more attention should be paid to the juvenile delinquents who experienced parental divorce.

Risk and Protective Factors of Juvenile Delinquency among Youth Exposed to Political Conflict: The Role of Social Resistance

“…As for the other risk and protective factors included in our model, our results revealed that in accordance with previous research (Chan 2019; Khoury-Kassabri et al 2019; Mohammad and Banse 2023; Swisher and Shaw-Smith 2015; Zhang et al 2014; Zhao et al 2023), high impulsivity and arrest of a family member are associated with higher levels of juvenile delinquency. Likewise, religiosity (relationship with God), parental attachment, attachment to the neighbourhood, employment and married parents all predict lower levels of juvenile delinquency.…”

“…The second set of independent variables consists of sociodemographic measures, which were also found to be correlated with juvenile delinquency (Antle et al 2020; Chan 2019; Zhao et al 2023). These include “age”, “employment” (0 = no, 1 = yes), “parental marital status” (0 = not married, 1 = married), and “family member arrest by the police” (0 = no, 1 = yes).…”

“…Juvenile delinquency is a core issue in criminology and criminal justice, and various elements of this phenomenon have been subject to extensive research (Khoury-Kassabri, Mishna, and Massarwi 2019;Loeber and Farrington 2012;Thompson and Bynum 2016). Specifically, numerous studies have examined the risk and protective factors of involvement in juvenile delinquency (Orlando and Farrington 2021;Zhao, Ren, and Chen 2023). For instance, parental attachment (Lee, Moon, and Garcia 2020) and religious orientation (Mohammad and Banse 2023) have been identified as associated with lower levels of juvenile delinquency, while high impulsivity (Geerlings et al 2020) and low socio-economic status (Shong, Abu Bakar, and Islam 2019) predict more involvement in this type of behaviour.…”

“…For instance, parental involvement and attachment have been found to be associated with normative behaviour (Khoury-Kassabri et al 2019; Lee et al 2020). In the same vein, residing in a disrupted family environment, such as one with divorced parents, which diminishes the effectiveness of parental informal social control over youth, could serve as a risk factor for juvenile delinquency (Zhao et al 2023). Likewise, positive attitudes towards the school and neighbourhood have found to be negatively related to delinquent behaviour (Liu and Miller 2020; Zhang et al 2014).…”

“…The literature suggests various risk and protective factors of juvenile delinquency that stem from diverse theoretical perspectives (Antle et al 2020; Orlando and Farrington 2021; Zhao et al 2023). However, the underlying mechanism for this behaviour in the exceptional context of political conflict remains unknown.…”