Chen Luxi, Qu Li
Centre for Family and Population Research, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.
School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore.
Front Psychol. 2021 Apr 6;12:601732. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.601732. eCollection 2021.
Migrant children are at high risk for depression, though the exact mechanism is still unclear. This study investigated whether and how different stress mindsets (threat vs. challenge) and coping strategies (avoidant vs. approach) mediated the association between stressful experiences and depression in migrant children, and whether these relationships would be moderated by gender. One hundred and ninety-eight rural-to-urban migrant children (56.0% girls; = 11.8 years) in Beijing, China, completed self-administered measures of stressful experiences, threat and challenge mindsets, coping strategies, and depression. Path analysis was conducted to examine the proposed mediation model. A dual-pathway model of stress coping was discovered: (1) a stress-threat-avoidance-depression pathway, in which threat mindset and avoidant coping mediated the association between stressful experiences and depression, and (2) a challenge-approach-enhancement pathway, in which approach coping mediated the association between challenge mindset and fewer depressive symptoms, without being influenced by stressful experiences. The dual-pathway mechanism did not vary by gender, and it can explain the greater vulnerability of girls to depression. Together, findings suggest that stressful events, threat mindset, and avoidant coping act as risk factors for depression, whereas challenge mindset and approach coping can function as protective factors to counteract the impacts of stressful experiences and promote psychological well-being among migrant children.
流动儿童患抑郁症的风险很高，尽管确切机制尚不清楚。本研究调查了不同的应激心态（威胁与挑战）和应对策略（回避与应对）是否以及如何介导了流动儿童应激经历与抑郁症之间的关联，以及这些关系是否会受到性别的调节。在中国北京，198名从农村到城市的流动儿童（女孩占56.0%；平均年龄 = 11.8岁）完成了关于应激经历、威胁和挑战心态、应对策略以及抑郁症的自我管理测量。进行路径分析以检验所提出的中介模型。发现了一种应激应对的双路径模型：（1）应激-威胁-回避-抑郁路径，其中威胁心态和回避应对介导了应激经历与抑郁症之间的关联；（2）挑战-应对-增强路径，其中应对介导了挑战心态与较少抑郁症状之间的关联，且不受应激经历的影响。双路径机制不因性别而异，并且可以解释女孩更容易患抑郁症的原因。总之，研究结果表明，应激事件、威胁心态和回避应对是抑郁症的风险因素，而挑战心态和应对可以作为保护因素，抵消应激经历的影响，促进流动儿童的心理健康。
