The Mediating Effects of Social Support and Coping on the Stress-Depression Relationship in Rural and Urban Adolescents

Einar B. Thorsteinsson, Stephanie Mariee Ryan, Sigrun Sveinbjornsdottir

University of Akureyri, Akureyri, Iceland.
University of New England, Armidale, Australia.

DOI: 10.4236/ojd.2013.21001                

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between potential risk and protective factors for depression among 167 girls and 343 boys in urban and rural areas of NSW, Australia. The risk and protective factors included social support, coping style, and perceived stress. The results indicated no significant differences in depression and risk and protective factors for rural and urban adolescents. Maladaptive coping (rumination and acting out) and social support (satisfaction and number of supporters) were partial mediators of the relationship between perceived stress and depression with the overall model explaining 66% of the variance in depression. Thus changes to coping and to social support network need to be addressed in any intervention aimed at reducing the impact of perceived stress on depression in adolescents.

Keywords

Social Support; Depression; Coping; Perceived Stress; Adolescent

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	Aisbett, D. L., Boyd, C. P., Francis, K. J., Newnham, K., & Newnham, K. (2007). Understanding barriers to mental health service utilization for adolescents in rural Australia. Rural and Remote Health, 7, 1-10.
[2]	Andersen, S. L., & Teicher, M. H. (2008). Stress, sensitive periods and maturational events in adolescent depression. Trends in Neurosciences, 31, 183-191. doi:10.1016/j.tins.2008.01.004
[3]	Antony, M. M., Bieling, P. J., Cox, B. J., Enns, M. W., & Swinson, R. P. (1998). Psychometric properties of the 42-item and 21-item versions of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales in clinical groups and a community sample. Psychological Assessment, 10, 176-181. doi:10.1037/1040-3590.10.2.176
[4]	Baume, P. J. M., & Clinton, M. E. (1997). Social and cultural patterns of suicide in young people in rural Australia. Australian Journal of Rural Health, 5, 115-120. doi:10.1111/j.1440-1584.1997.tb00251.x
[5]	Boyd, C. P., & Parr, H. (2008). Social geography and rural mental health research. Rural and Remote Health, 8, 1-5.
[6]	Burke, R. J., & Weir, T. (1978). Benefits to adolescents of informal helping relationships with their parents and peers. Psychological Reports, 42, 1175-1184. doi:10.2466/pr0.1978.42.3c.1175
[7]	Byrne, D. G., Davenport, S. C., & Mazanov, J. (2007). Profiles of adolescent stress: The development of the Adolescent Stress Questionnaire (ASQ). Journal of Adolescence, 30, 393-416. doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2006.04.004
[8]	Cohen, S., Kamarck, T., & Mermelstein, R. (1983). A global measure of perceived stress. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 24, 385- 396. doi:10.2307/2136404
[9]	Cohen, S. (1988). Perceived stress in a probability sample of the United States. In S. Spacapan, & S. Oskamp (Eds.), The social psychology of health. The Claremont Symposium on applied social psychology (pp. 31-67). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
[10]	Cohen, S., & Wills, T. A. (1985). Stress, social support, and the buffering hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin, 98, 310-357. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.98.2.310
[11]	Copeland, W. E., Shanahan, L., Costello, E. J., & Angold, A. (2009). Childhood and adolescent psychiatric disorders as predictors of young adult disorders. Archives of General Psychiatry, 66, 764-772. doi:10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2009.85
[12]	Crowell, B. A. J., George, L. K., Blazer, D., & Landerman, R. (1986). Psychosocial risk factors and urban/rural differences in the prevalence of major depression. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 149, 307-314. doi:10.1192/bjp.149.3.307
[13]	Day, C., Kane, R. T., & Roberts, C. (2000). Depressive symptomatology in rural Western Australia: Prevalence, severity and risk and protective factors. Australian Journal of Psychology, 52, 51-58. doi:10.1080/00049530008255367
[14]	DeLongis, A., & Holtzman, S. (2005). Coping in context: The role of stress, social support, and personality in coping. Journal of Personality, Special Issue: Advances in Personality and Daily Experience, 73, 1633-1656. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.2005.00361.x
[15]	Dumont, M., & Provost, M. A. (1999). Resilience in adolescents: Protective role of social support, coping strategies, self-esteem, and social activities on experience of stress and depression. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 28, 343-363. doi:10.1023/A:1021637011732
[16]	Ebata, A. T., & Moos, R. H. (1991). Coping and adjustment in distressed and healthy adolescents. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 12, 33-54. doi:10.1016/0193-3973(91)90029-4
[17]	Galaif, E. R., Sussman, S., Chou, C. P., & Wills, T. A. (2003). Longitudinal relations among depression, stress, and coping in high risk youth. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 32, 243-258. doi:10.1023/A:1023028809718
[18]	Jorgensen, S. R., & Dusek, J. B. (1990). Adolescent adjustment and coping strategies. Journal of Personality, 58, 503-513. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.1990.tb00240.x
[19]	Jose, P. E., D’Anna, C. A., Cafasso, L. L., Bryant, F. B., Chiker, V., Gein, N., & Zhezmer, N. (1998). Stress and coping among Russian and American early adolescents. Developmental Psychology, 34, 757-769. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.34.4.757
[20]	Kline, R. B. (2005). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.
[21]	Kosterman, R., Hawkins, J. D., Mason, W. A., Herrenkohl, T. I., Lengua, L. J., & McCauley, E. (2010). Assessment of behavior problems in childhood and adolescence as predictors of early adult depression. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 32, 118-127. doi:10.1007/s10862-009-9138-0
[22]	Levitt, M. J., Guacci Franco, N., & Levitt, J. L. (1993). Convoys of social support in childhood and early adolescence: Structure and function. Developmental Psychology, 29, 811-818. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.29.5.811
[23]	Lovibond, P. F., & Lovibond, S. H. (1995). The structure of negative emotional states: Comparison of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS) with the Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventories. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 33, 335-343. doi:10.1016/0005-7967(94)00075-U
[24]	Moksnes, U. K., Byrne, D. G., Mazanov, J., & Espnes, G. A. (2010). Adolescent stress: Evaluation of the factor structure of the Adolescent Stress Questionnaire (ASQ-N). Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 51, 203-209. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9450.2009.00803.x
[25]	Murberg, T. A., & Bru, E. (2005). The role of coping styles as predicttors of depressive symptoms among adolescents: A prospective study. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 46, 385-393. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9450.2005.00469.x
[26]	Ozbay, F., Fitterling, H., Charney, D., & Southwick, S. (2008). Social support and resilience to stress across the life span: A neurobiologic framework. Current Psychiatry Reports, 10, 304-310. doi:10.1007/s11920-008-0049-7
[27]	Preacher, K. J., & Hayes, A. F. (2004). SPSS and SAS procedures for estimating indirect effects in simple mediation models. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 36, 717-731. doi:10.3758/BF03206553
[28]	Quine, S., Bernard, D., Booth, M., Kang, M., Usherwood, T., Alperstein, G. et al. (2003). Health and access issues among Australian adolescents: A rural-urban comparison [Electronic Version]. Rural and Remote Health, 3, 1-11.
[29]	Recklitis, J., & Noam, G. (1999). Clinical and developmental perspectives on adolescent coping. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 30, 87-101. doi:10.1023/A:1021998217862
[30]	Reinherz, H. Z., Stewart Berghauer, G., Pakiz, B., Frost, A. K., Moeykens, B. A., & Holmes, W. M. (1989). The relationship of early risk and current mediators to depressive symptomatology in adolescence. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 28, 942-947. doi:10.1097/00004583-198911000-00021
[31]	Romeo, R. D. (2010). Adolescence: A central event in shaping stress reactivity. Developmental Psychobiology, 52, 244-253. doi:10.1002/dev.20437
[32]	Sarason, I. G., Sarason, B. R., Shearin, E. N., & Pierce, G. R. (1987). A brief measure of social support: Practical and theoretical implications. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 4, 497-510. doi:10.1177/0265407587044007
[33]	Schmeelk-Cone, K. H., & Zimmerman, M. A. (2003). A longitudinal analysis of stress in African American youth: Predictors and outcomes of stress trajectories. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 32, 419-430. doi:10.1023/A:1025934301468
[34]	Seiffge-Krenke, I., Aunola, K., & Nurmi, J.-E. (2009). Changes in stress perception and coping during adolescence: The role of situational and personal factors. Child Development, 80, 259-279. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2008.01258.x
[35]	Seiffge-Krenke, I., & Klessinger, N. (2000). Long-term effects of avoidant coping on adolescents’ depressive symptoms. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 29, 617-630. doi:10.1023/A:1026440304695
[36]	Seiffge-Krenke, I., Weidemann, S., Fentner, S., Aegenheister, N., & Poeblau, M. (2001). Coping with school-related stress and family stress in healthy and clinically referred adolescents. European Psychologist, 6, 123-132. doi:10.1027//1016-9040.6.2.123
[37]	Skitch, S. A., & Abela, J. R. Z. (2008). Rumination in response to stress as a common vulnerability factor to depression and substance misuse in adolescence. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 36, 1029- 1045. doi:10.1007/s10802-008-9233-9
[38]	Sorenson, S. B., Rutter, C. M., & Aneshensel, C. S. (1991). Depression in the community: An investigation into age of onset. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 59, 541-546. doi:10.1037/0022-006X.59.4.541
[39]	Sveinbjornsdottir, S. (2005). Bjargráe unglinga og maling teirra: Bjargráeakvareinn MACS (Measure of Adolescent Coping Strategies). In ú. Hauksson (Ed.), Rannsóknir í félagsvísindum VI (pp. 487-500). Reykjavík: Félagsvísindastofnun Háskóla íslands.
[40]	Sveinbjornsdottir, S., & Thorsteinsson, E. B. (2008). Adolescent coping scales: A critical psychometric review. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 49, 533-548. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9450.2008.00669.x
[41]	Sveinbjornsdottir, S., & Thorsteinsson, E. B. (2012). A psychometriccally derived theory on adolescent coping: Development of the Measure of Adolescent Coping Strategies (MACS). Unpublished raw data.
[42]	Thorsteinsson, E. B., & James, J. E. (1999). A meta-analysis of the effects of experimental manipulations of social support during laboratory stress. Psychology & Health, 14, 869-886. doi:10.1080/08870449908407353
[43]	Thorsteinsson, E. B., James, J. E., Douglas, M. E., & Omodei, M. M. (2011). Effects of social support on cardiovascular and cortisol reactivity during passive and active behavioural challenge. Journal of Psychiatry, Psychology and Mental Health, 3, 1-12.
[44]	Tolor, A., & Fehon, D. (1987). Coping with stress: A study of male adolescents’ coping strategies as related to adjustment. Journal of Adolescent Research, 2, 33-42. doi:10.1177/074355488721003
[45]	Weber, S., Puskar, K. R., & Ren, D. (2010). Relationships between depressive symptoms and perceived social support, self-esteem, & optimism in a sample of rural adolescents. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 31, 584-588. doi:10.3109/01612841003775061