Nagaoka Daiki, Tomoshige Nanami, Ando Shuntaro, Morita Masaya, Kiyono Tomoki, Kanata Sho, Fujikawa Shinya, Endo Kaori, Yamasaki Syudo, Fukuda Masato, Nishida Atsushi, Hiraiwa-Hasegawa Mariko, Kasai Kiyoto
The Department of Neuropsychiatry, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
Research Center for Social Science & Medicine, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science, Tokyo, Japan.
Front Psychiatry. 2022 May 17;13:865907. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.865907. eCollection 2022.
Depression is highly prevalent and causes a heavy burden in adolescent life. Being praised for prosocial behavior might be a preventive factor because both being praised and prosocial behavior are protective against depression. Here, we investigated the longitudinal relationship between being praised for prosocial behavior and depressive symptoms in adolescents.
In Tokyo Teen Cohort study (TTC), an ongoing prospective population-based cohort study, we collected 3,171 adolescents' data on self-reported experiences of being praised for prosocial behavior, depressive symptoms, and caregiver-evaluated prosocial behavior. Ten-year-old children were asked to freely describe answers to the question "What are you praised for?". Only children who clearly answered that they were praised for their prosocial behavior were designated the "prosocial praise group." The degree of depression at ages 10 and 12 was measured with the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (SMFQ), a self-report questionnaire about depression. Objective prosocial behavior of the 10 year-old children was assessed by the Strength and Difficulty Questionnaire (SDQ). Multiple linear regression analysis was performed using the SMFQ score at age 12 as the objective variable and being praised for prosocial behavior as the main explanatory variable, and the SMFQ score at age 10 and the objective prosocial behavior at age 10 were included as confounders.
Depressive symptoms (SMFQ scores) in the "prosocial praise group" were significantly lower than those in the other group both at age 10 (4.3 ± 4.4 vs. 4.9 ± 4.6, < 0.001) and at age 12 (3.4 ± 4.2 vs. 4.0 ± 4.6, < 0.01). In the single regression analysis, the children who reported being praised for prosocial behavior at age 10 had significantly lower depressive symptoms at age 12 (partial regression variable: -0.57, 95% confidence interval (CI) [-0.96, -0.17]). This association remained significant after adjusting for confounders, including baseline depressive symptoms (partial regression variable: -0.44, 95% CI [-0.80, -0.08]). Prosocial behavior alone was not associated with depressive symptoms.
Being praised for prosocial behavior rather than objective prosocial behavior at 10 years of age predicted lower depressive symptoms 2 years later. Praise for adolescents' prosocial behavior can be encouraged to prevent depression.
抑郁症在青少年中极为普遍，给他们的生活带来沉重负担。因亲社会行为而受到表扬可能是一个预防因素，因为受到表扬和亲社会行为都对抑郁症有预防作用。在此，我们调查了青少年因亲社会行为受到表扬与抑郁症状之间的纵向关系。
在东京青少年队列研究（TTC）中，这是一项正在进行的基于人群的前瞻性队列研究，我们收集了3171名青少年关于因亲社会行为受到表扬的自我报告经历、抑郁症状以及照顾者评估的亲社会行为的数据。10岁儿童被要求自由描述对“你因什么而受到表扬？”这个问题的回答。只有明确回答因亲社会行为而受到表扬的儿童被指定为“亲社会表扬组”。10岁和12岁时的抑郁程度用简短情绪与感受问卷（SMFQ）进行测量，这是一份关于抑郁的自我报告问卷。10岁儿童的客观亲社会行为通过长处与困难问卷（SDQ）进行评估。以12岁时的SMFQ分数作为目标变量，因亲社会行为受到表扬作为主要解释变量进行多元线性回归分析，并将10岁时的SMFQ分数和10岁时的客观亲社会行为作为混杂因素纳入。
“亲社会表扬组”在10岁（4.3±4.4 vs. 4.9±4.6，<0.001）和12岁时（3.4±4.2 vs. 4.0±4.6，<0.01）的抑郁症状（SMFQ分数）均显著低于另一组。在单因素回归分析中，报告在10岁时因亲社会行为受到表扬的儿童在12岁时抑郁症状显著更低（偏回归系数：-0.57，95%置信区间（CI）[-0.96，-0.17]）。在调整包括基线抑郁症状在内的混杂因素后，这种关联仍然显著（偏回归系数：-0.44，95%CI[-0.80，-0.08]）。仅亲社会行为与抑郁症状无关。
10岁时因亲社会行为受到表扬而非客观亲社会行为可预测两年后较低的抑郁症状。可以鼓励对青少年亲社会行为的表扬以预防抑郁症。
