Teacher Overinvolvement and Student Depression among Junior High School Students in Taiwan

Abstract

This study examines depression in students at public high schools in Taiwan. The purpose of this study is to examine which student-level and teacher-level variables affect student depression due to teacher emotional overinvolvement and other factors. A survey instrument adapted and translated from existing surveys was distributed to 1,479 Taiwanese adolescents aged 13—15 years and 172 teachers from 10 public junior high schools in the city of Taipei. The hierarchical linear model (HLM) was used for a cross-level analysis of the data. The HLM shows that student-level measures account for most of the variance. Teacher emotional overinvolvement and core self-evaluations are the preponderant influences on student ratings. In terms of teacher-level variables, the effects of teacher involvement, teacher depression, and teacher educational background on student-level variables are strong and significant. The findings of this study recommend the development of a comprehensive counseling system for teachers and students.

Depression and its association with self‐esteem, family, peer and school factors in a population of 9586 adolescents in southern Taiwan

“…27,65 Nonetheless, the emotional overinvolvement of the teacher may elicit adverse effects. 21 Previous studies have found that poor academic achievement might induce adolescents to have negative feelings toward themselves, which could precipitate depression. 24 In contrast, depression might decrease the adolescent's ability and motivation to learn, which results in poor academic expectations on the part of the adolescent.…”

“…18 Numerous studies have focused on the correlation of depression with social contexts in adolescents. 8,[19][20][21][22] Few of them, however, were community-based studies that investigated the correlation between depression and individual and social factors. Furthermore, most of them have been conducted in Western societies, [23][24][25] and the sample sizes were relatively small.…”

Is Teachers’ Depression Contagious to Students? A Study Based on Classes’ Hierarchical Models

“…This, however, might increase the stress experienced by the students, thereby increasing their depressive symptoms. Huang, Wu, Hu, and Yang found that teachers' emotional overinvolvement had a significant effect on students' depression [57]. Considering that our study indicates that teachers' depression is not transmitted to students, we did not further verify the mediating or moderating role of students' depressive cognitive vulnerable factors.…”

Treatment-Resistant Depressed Youth Show a Higher Response Rate if Treatment Ends During Summer School Break

“…This includes such school stressors as poor academic performance, 1,2 low connected-ness to school, 3 and teacher performance, 2,4 all of which have been found to be associated with depression and its severity among adolescents. Such stressors could affect the course of the treatment if they had not been addressed by the therapist.…”

“…2,4 On the other hand, there is little work on the effect of school factors on response to treatment of depression. School problems in the 6 months before treatment with fluoxetine in depressed children and adolescents predicted a lower response rate.…”