Bu Xiaomei, Gai Xiaosong, Zhang Peipei, Yu Xin, Zhang Chan
School of Psychology, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, 130024, China.
Key Research Institute of Humanities and Social Science in Universities in Jilin Province, Research Center of Mental Health Education in Northeast Normal University, Changchun, 130024, China.
BMC Psychol. 2025 Nov 5;13(1):1228. doi: 10.1186/s40359-025-03549-4.
Drawing on Self-Determination Theory and the Hopelessness Theory of Depression, this study reconceptualized hopelessness along the dimensions of three basic psychological needs and meaningfulness, broadened negative thinking styles to include rumination and irrational beliefs, and systematically examined their associations with depressive symptoms in Chinese adolescent students.
We analyzed 17,561 students and assessed hopelessness and negative thinking styles through self-developed questionnaires, the reliability and validity of which have been verified. Depression was measured using the Children's Depression Inventory and the Depression Self-Rating Scale for Children. Both variable-centered and subgroup analysis strategies were used to examine the relationships between variables.
(1) Variable-centered analysis showed that, after controlling for demographic variables (including gender, grade, and family socioeconomic status), hopelessness and negative thinking styles explained 50% of depression variance, with explanatory power increasing with educational level; (2) Subgroup analysis revealed that 64.01% of depressed students exhibited at least one risk factor among hopelessness or negative thinking styles, but only 15.06% of non-depressed students. The depression detection rate was 66.77% among students with ≥ 1 risk factor, versus 1.44% among those with none.
Adolescent depression is strongly associated with hopelessness toward basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence, relatedness, and meaningfulness) and negative thinking styles.
本研究借鉴自我决定理论和抑郁绝望理论，从三种基本心理需求和意义感的维度重新界定绝望，将消极思维方式扩展至包括反刍思维和非理性信念，并系统考察了它们与中国青少年学生抑郁症状的关联。
我们分析了17561名学生，并通过自行编制且信效度已得到验证的问卷评估绝望和消极思维方式。使用儿童抑郁量表和儿童抑郁自评量表测量抑郁状况。采用以变量为中心和亚组分析策略来检验变量之间的关系。
（1）以变量为中心的分析表明，在控制人口统计学变量（包括性别、年级和家庭社会经济地位）后，绝望和消极思维方式解释了抑郁变异的50%，且解释力随教育水平的提高而增强；（2）亚组分析显示，64.01%的抑郁学生在绝望或消极思维方式中至少表现出一种危险因素，而非抑郁学生中这一比例仅为15.06%。有≥1种危险因素的学生中抑郁检出率为66.77%，无危险因素的学生中这一比例为1.44%。
青少年抑郁与对基本心理需求（自主、能力、关系和意义感）的绝望以及消极思维方式密切相关。
