The purposes of this dissertation were to: (1) assess the prevalence of depressive symptoms in Thai adolescents; (2) identify factors related to depressive symptoms; (3) determine whether negative thinking mediate the effects of parental bonding, everyday stressors, and self-esteem on depressive symptoms; and (4) examine the psychometric properties of the Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale (RADS) and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D), two commonly used of depressive symptoms measures. Data were collected from 812 high school students in Chon Buri province, Thailand. Measures used were the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI; Parker, Tupling, & Brown, 1979), the Everyday Stressors Index Adolescent version (ESI-A; Hall & Charoensuk, 2004), the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (RSE; Rosenberg, 1965), the Crandell Cognitions Inventory (CCI; Crandell & Chambless, 1986), the RADS (Reynolds, 1987), and the CES-D (Radloff, 1977). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, factor analysis, bivariate correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis. The results of the psychometric test provided supports for the reliability and validity of both the RADS and the CES-D when used with Thai adolescents. However, the original factor structures of both the RADS and CES-D were not replicated.
A revision of some items may improve reliability and validity of these two measures and provide researchers and clinicians with more useful measures of depressive symptoms. Regardless of what measures used, the prevalence of depressive symptoms in Thai adolescent was quiet similar (20% and 21%). Thai adolescents who were at late adolescence, having a history of family mental illness, smoking, drinking, reporting their parents as over protective, reporting a high level of everyday stressors and negative thinking were more likely to experience a high level of depressive symptoms. Adolescents who had high GPA, reported an availability of counseling service in the school, perceived their parents as caring, and reported a high level of self-esteem were less likely to report a high level of depressive symptoms. Multiple regressions revealed that parental caring, everyday stressors, self-esteem, and negative thinking were the best predictors of depressive symptoms. Negative thinking was the strongest predictor, and it also mediated the effects of parental bonding, everyday stressors, and self-esteem on depressive symptoms.
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