Department of Biobehavioral Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States.
Faculty of Science, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Front Public Health. 2023 Feb 16;11:1096903. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1096903. eCollection 2023.
The main purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between depression literacy (D-Lit) and the development and progression of depressive mood.
This longitudinal study with multiple cross-sectional analyses used data from a nationwide online questionnaire administered the Wen Juan Xing survey platform. Eligible participants were 18 years or older and had subjectively experienced mild depressive moods at the time of their initial enrollment in the study. The follow-up time was 3 months. Spearman's rank correlation test was used to analyze the predictive role of D-Lit on the later development of depressive mood.
We included 488 individuals with mild depressive moods. No statistically significant correlation between D-Lit and Zung Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) at baseline was observed (adjusted rho = 0.001, = 0.974). However, after 1 month (adjusted rho = -0.449, < 0.001) and after 3 months (adjusted rho = -0.759, < 0.001), D-Lit was significantly and negatively correlated with SDS.
The targeted subjects were limited to the Chinese adult social media users; meanwhile, China's current management policies for COVID-19 differ from most of the other countries, limiting the generalizability of this study.
Despite the limitations, our study provided novel evidence supporting that low depression literacy may be associated with exacerbated development and progression of depressive mood, which, if not appropriately and promptly controlled, may ultimately lead to depression. In the future, we encourage further research to explore the practical and efficient ways to enhance public depression literacy.
本研究的主要目的是探讨抑郁素养（D-Lit）与抑郁情绪的发展和进展之间的关系。
这是一项具有多个横断面分析的纵向研究，使用了全国范围内在线问卷调查平台 Wen Juan Xing 上的数据。合格的参与者年龄在 18 岁及以上，在最初入组研究时主观上经历过轻度抑郁情绪。随访时间为 3 个月。采用 Spearman 秩相关检验分析 D-Lit 对抑郁情绪后期发展的预测作用。
我们纳入了 488 名有轻度抑郁情绪的个体。D-Lit 与 Zung 自评抑郁量表（SDS）在基线时无统计学显著相关性（调整后的 rho = 0.001， = 0.974）。然而，在 1 个月后（调整后的 rho = -0.449， < 0.001）和 3 个月后（调整后的 rho = -0.759， < 0.001），D-Lit 与 SDS 呈显著负相关。
目标人群仅限于中国成年社交媒体用户；同时，中国目前的 COVID-19 管理政策与大多数其他国家不同，限制了本研究的普遍性。
尽管存在局限性，但本研究提供了新的证据支持抑郁素养低可能与抑郁情绪的恶化发展和进展相关，如果不及时适当控制，可能最终导致抑郁。未来，我们鼓励进一步研究探索提高公众抑郁素养的实用且有效的方法。
