Transitions of Developmental Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms Between Junior and Senior High School Among Youths in Taiwan: Linkages to Symptoms in Young Adulthood

Abstract

We investigated the heterogeneous developmental trajectories of depressive symptoms in junior and senior high school, the transitions to different trajectories after entering senior high school, and the linkages to the development of depressive symptoms in early adulthood among Taiwanese adolescents. An eight-wave longitudinal data set was analyzed, including 2687 Taiwanese adolescents (51.2% boys, M age = 14.3 at first wave). Using a manual three-step latent transition growth mixture model, we found that a three-class solution fit the data for both junior high school (termed high-improving, cumulative, and JS-low-stable) and senior high school period (termed heightening, moderate-stable, and HS-low-stable). The depressive symptoms of most individuals maintained at a low level (i.e., low-stable) from adolescence to early adulthood; however, nearly a quarter of the adolescents reported depressive symptoms that were moderately or highly severe in senior high school and beyond. More than 30% of the participants experienced transitioning into a different developmental trajectory between junior and senior high school. When perceiving a higher level of paternal behavioral control, adolescents categorized in the high-improving class in junior high school would have a higher chance to transition to the moderate-stable class than to HS-low-stable class in senior high school. Adolescent boys and girls did not differ in the probability of transitioning between trajectories across junior and senior high school. However, a clear and consistent pattern of symptoms between late adolescence and early adulthood was not observed. These results help elucidate the heterogeneity and fluidity associated with the development of depressive symptoms between early adolescence and early adulthood in light of school transition among youths in Taiwan.

The Impact of Academic Achievement and Parental Practices on Depressive Symptom Trajectories Among Chinese Adolescents

“…Only a few studies have focused on the trajectories of depressive symptoms among Chinese adolescents. These studies consisted mainly of respondents from upper socioeconomic regions, including Taiwanese samples (Wang et al, 2018 ; Wang et al, 2018 ; Wu, 2017 ). Their findings on trajectories of depressive symptoms are mostly consistent with Western findings.…”

“…In China, academic achievement is accepted as a means of self-cultivation and self-perfection, and an obligation to the family and even the whole society (Wang et al, 2018 ; Wang et al, 2018 ). Academic success is extremely important: those who excel academically have the chance to improve not only their own but also their family's reputation, whereas those who underperform might be considered failures and will face many difficulties in later life (Quach et al, 2013 ; Wang et al, 2018 ; Wang et al, 2018 ). Academic success thus brings protection, and academic underperformance puts pressure on Chinese adolescents.…”

“…Parental practices (i.e., autonomy support, psychological control, and educational involvement) might have different meanings in Chinese culture than in other (Western) countries. Chinese parenting is typically characterized by a high level of parental control and centers on the child's academic achievement (Wang et al, 2018 ; Wang et al, 2018 ). First, profoundly affected by the Chinese parenting belief of "guan (管)", which involves training, discipline, supervision, governance, monitoring, and even control, Chinese parents express love and support by controlling children instead of through affection (Chao, 1994 ).…”

“…First, profoundly affected by the Chinese parenting belief of "guan (管)", which involves training, discipline, supervision, governance, monitoring, and even control, Chinese parents express love and support by controlling children instead of through affection (Chao, 1994 ). Second, the importance of academic success is heavily emphasized by Chinese parents as a family obligation (Wang et al, 2018 ; Wang et al, 2018 ). Consequently, Chinese parents tend to focus their educational involvement, autonomy support, and psychological control on their children's learning achievements more than do their Western counterparts (Cheung & Pomerantz, 2011 ; Wang et al, 2007 ).…”

The effect of high school entrance exam reform on adolescents’ depressive symptoms in Taiwan: A closer look at gender differences

“…The level of depressive symptoms and the prevalence of major depression among Taiwanese adolescents escalate with age (Chen et al, 2015). On par with international trends (Merikangas et al, 2010), the severity of depressive symptoms heightens as youth progress, peaking in middle adolescence when they face the transition from junior to senior high school (Strong et al, 2016;Wang et al, 2018).…”