Yang Pei-Jung
Graduate Institute of Social Work, National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Front Psychol. 2021 Aug 23;12:695751. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.695751. eCollection 2021.
This study examined Taiwanese Han and indigenous (Tayal) youth's experiences of stressful life events, the association between stressful experiences and depressive symptomology, and also the indirect and interactive effects of connection on the relationship between stressful experiences and depressive symptomology. Taiwanese Han (97%) is the majority group, whereas indigenous people make up 2.3% of Taiwan's population. Taiwanese indigenous people have experienced disparities across socio-historical, educational, and economic aspects of their lives. This study included 291 eighth-grade participants (40% from the Tayal tribe, 48.8% female, and = 13.44). The Han sample in this study all lived in cities, and the Tayal sample all lived in the tribal areas of the Northern Taiwan mountain regions. Person-centered (latent class analyses) and cumulative (sum of items) approaches were used to investigate family and school stressful events, respectively. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted separately for the Han and Tayal participants to examine the role of family and school connection in relation to family and school stressors and depressive symptomology. Our results showed that stressful experiences are clearly linked to depressive symptomology and family connection was important to both Tayal and Han youth in supporting their coping with depressive symptoms. However, Tayal youth might be particularly vulnerable to family stressful events because family stressors disrupted their connection with their parents and thereby minimized the protective function of family relationships. To decrease the likely onset of depression during early adolescence, our results suggest that it is important for parents and other family members to monitor adolescents' daily experiences of stress and provide support when needed. Furthermore, mental health interventions need to be tailored specifically for youth in specific racial, social, and economic contexts. Tayal youth mental health might benefit particularly from increasing school connection and decreasing stresses experienced in family contexts. Implications, limitations, and recommendations for future research are discussed.
本研究考察了台湾汉族和原住民（泰雅族）青少年经历的应激性生活事件、应激经历与抑郁症状之间的关联，以及社会关系在应激经历与抑郁症状关系中的间接和交互作用。台湾汉族（97%）是主要群体，而原住民占台湾人口的2.3%。台湾原住民在其生活的社会历史、教育和经济方面经历了种种差异。本研究纳入了291名八年级参与者（40%来自泰雅族部落，48.8%为女性，平均年龄 = 13.44岁）。本研究中的汉族样本均生活在城市，泰雅族样本均生活在台湾北部山区的部落地区。分别采用以人为中心的（潜在类别分析）和累积的（项目总和）方法来调查家庭和学校应激事件。对汉族和泰雅族参与者分别进行分层回归分析，以检验家庭和学校社会关系在家庭和学校应激源及抑郁症状方面的作用。我们的结果表明，应激经历与抑郁症状明显相关，家庭社会关系对泰雅族和汉族青少年应对抑郁症状都很重要。然而，泰雅族青少年可能特别容易受到家庭应激事件的影响，因为家庭应激源破坏了他们与父母的关系，从而削弱了家庭关系的保护作用。为了降低青春期早期抑郁发作的可能性，我们的结果表明，父母和其他家庭成员监测青少年日常的应激经历并在需要时提供支持很重要。此外，心理健康干预需要针对特定种族、社会和经济背景的青少年量身定制。增加学校社会关系并减少家庭环境中经历的应激，可能会特别有益于泰雅族青少年的心理健康。文中讨论了研究的意义、局限性以及对未来研究的建议。
