The prevalence of depression in high school students

In response to the need expressed in the literature on adolescent depression, recent studies have examined the incidence of affective disorders. However, there continues to be a paucity of research on the prevalence of depressive symptomatology in nonpatient adolescents. The Canadian literature is especially lacking in this area. The present study examined the prevalence of depression in a sample of 366 Canadian high school students. Consistent with similar research in the United Kingdom and the United States, 31.4% of the sample were midly to clinically depressed as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory. Significant sex differences were found; these are discussed in the context of age and level of depression. The need for further research on adolescent depression is emphasized.     

Support reciprocity and depression among elementary school and high school students1

Abstract: This study examined the relationship between support reciprocity in friendships and depression among elementary school and high school students, taking specific account of the quality of parent‐child relationships. The participants were 340 first‐year high school students and 317 sixth‐year elementary school students, all of whom completed questionnaires measuring levels of depression and support receiving and support giving in the relationship with their best friend. In addition, high school students answered questions about their parents’ child‐rearing attitudes. Consistent with predictions, it was shown that support reciprocity correlated significantly with lower depression among high school students but not among elementary school students. Moreover, it was found that for high school students who perceived their parents as caring and affectionate, support reciprocity related significantly to lower depression but not for those who perceived their parents as distant and dismissive.     

Correlates of suicide ideation in high school students: the importance of depression

English-Canadian (104 boys, 96 girls) and French-Canadian (272 boys, 286 girls) high school students participated in this study of the relationship between suicide ideation and selected variables (age, gender, self-esteem, locus of control, stress, social support, anomy, health, alcohol use, and drug use), with the effect of depression removed. Partial correlation analyses showed that removal of the effect of depression resulted in a loss of or a reduction in the respective relationships between suicide ideation and its correlates. The results suggest that researchers must control for depression if they want to ascertain true correlates of suicidal behavior.     

Self-esteem, depression, and alcohol dependency among high school students

123 high school students completed the short form of the Coopersmith Self-esteem Inventory-School Form and its Lie scale, Beck's Depression Inventory, and an Alcohol Dependency Scale. Analyses of variance (2 x 4) showed boys had higher mean Lie scores than girls, and freshmen had lower mean alcohol dependency scores than sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Correlations between self-esteem scores and depression scores were significant and negative, but values were significant and positive between self-esteem and lie scores and between depression and alcohol dependency scores. Much work is required to understand better the relations among depression, self-esteem, and drug and alcohol dependency in high school students if interventions are to focus upon prevention.     

Feedback and self-concept in high school students

This study examined the relationship between self-concept and feedback in high school seniors. Students evaluated themselves on ten traits, and were asked to then have five significant others evaluate them on the same ten traits. After reviewing their average feedback scores, students again evaluated themselves. Results indicated a strong relationship between feedback and self-concept for all traits, with none indicating a stronger relationship than any other.     

Job-seeking and job-acquisition in high school students

We surveyed 225 Year 9 and 10 students at T1 regarding their attitude, social norms, control, experience, plans and intentions to find a part-time job while at school. Of these, 149 did not have a job and were surveyed again four months later about their job-seeking and job outcomes (104 responded at T2). Job-seeking intentions at T1 were associated with past experience, plans and beliefs that getting a job was the right thing to do. Job-seeking at T2 was associated with beliefs about the value of job-seeking. Job interviews attended were related to job-seeking, and job offers were related to interviews attended. Students with higher job-seeking intentions and behaviours differed on most variables from students with lower intentions and behaviours. Students need to be aware of the relationship between job-seeking, interviews and offers, and be provided with strategies that increase their interviews and assist to manage unsuccessful job attempts.     

Academic dishonesty among high school students

Research on academic dishonesty has generally relied on survey techniques, which may fail to capture students' true feelings about cheating. The present investigation used focus group discussions to gain a fuller understanding of students' beliefs about academic dishonesty. The results suggest that, in regard to their cheating, students generally place the blame on others.     

Characteristics of continuation high school students

This study examined the psychodynamics of students enrolled in a continuation high school. Forty continuation students were randomly selected and administered the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale and an author-prepared questionnaire which investigated students' experiences in a wide range of areas. The findings revealed that, contrary to expectations, these students had adequate self-concepts. Their responses to the questionnaire appeared to suggest that they were satisfied with their alternative school placement.     

Traffic safety competencies in Peruvian high school students

This study aims to comprehend traffic safety competencies in high school students from two specific regions of Peru, as well as to analyze the differences between both groups. For this purpose, a qualitative study was carried out which consisted of eight focus groups in high schools, three of them in the metropolitan area of Lima (Lima region) and five in the province of Rodríguez de Mendoza (the Amazonas region). The focus groups were constituted by 73 students enrolled in the last three years of high school, named 3rd, 4th and 5th grade of secondary education, whose ages ranged from 14 to 18 years. The collected data were analyzed employing elements of Grounded Theory and Axiomatic Set Theory. The main findings reveal that most participants have a general understanding of traffic rules and the proper use of the components of traffic safety. Thus, they understand the traffic rules as road signs that regulate the behavior of drivers and pedestrians. In addition, participants know the proper procedure to follow at traffic lights, pedestrian walkways and how to use seat belts. They also identify the driver’s tiredness/drowsiness, and the consumption of alcohol and drugs as potential factors that cause traffic accidents. No causes that are linked to pedestrian behavior were identified, and only participants from the Amazonas region mentioned speeding as a contributing factor. On the other hand, participants report that in practical situations they engage in risky behavior and fail to comply with transit rules. They justify this behavior by citing poor infrastructure, vehicle malfunctions, and the need get around quickly in order to get things done. Finally, the implications of the results are discussed and compared to the content and implementation of the Peruvian Road Safety Educational Program (PENSV, for its acronym in Spanish), providing recommendations that can aid evidence‐based policy making in Peru.     

Personal and vocational development in high school students

The purpose of this research was to test the effectiveness of a high school psychology course (16 weeks) in promoting positive personal and vocational development. One hundred ten junior students who were enrolled in a psychology course (4 sections) served as experimental subjects (Ss). Ninety-nine juniors and seniors from study halls were used as control Ss. Criterion measures consisted of the Personal Orientation Inventory and the Vocational Maturity Scale. Besides pre- and postdata, a three-month followup was also included. The statistical analysis consisted of a multiple linear regression model. Restrictions (sex, aptitude, and gpa) were imposed upon the model to control statistically for sources of variances affecting the relationship between treatment and criteria. Significance was set at or beyond the .05 level of probability. The findings suggest that the students in the psychology course showed more positive mental health and more vocational maturity than students in the control group. The change in the treatment conditions for the three criterion measures continued in the expected direction after a three-month period of time.     

Predicting suicidal ideation in high school students.

In a sample of 77 high school students, current suicidal ideation was predicted by depression, music preferences, and reasons for living scores.     

Specific and diversive curiosity and depression in junior high school students of divorced and nondivorced parents.

124 junior high school students (Grades 5 to 8) from a small school district in north central Kansas completed the Beck Depression Scale, the Maze test, and the Which-to-Discuss test. Background information, such as age, sex, grade, and marital status of parents, were also collected. There were no significant differences between boys and girls of divorced and nondivorced parents or across grades for scores on the Which-to-Discuss (specific curiosity) and depression, but boys scored significantly higher on the Maze test (diversive curiosity). No differences were noted between the students of divorced and nondivorced parents or across grades. Scores on Which-to-Discuss test and Maze test were not significantly correlated, but scores on one Maze test and depression correlated positively and significantly. When these students scored as more depressed, although in the normal range, they tended to score higher on diversive curiosity.     

Test anxiety in elementary school and junior high school students in japan

This study describes the sex difference, developmental trends of a modified Japanese version of the Test Anxiety Scale for Children (TASC, Sarason, Davidson, Frederick, & Waite, 1960) and presents evidence of negative effects of test anxiety on academic achievement. It was found that (a) the mean TASC scores for girls were found to be higher than boys across grades; (b) the developmental trends of anxiety scores showed the inversed V curves with the peak of 4th grades in elementary school, but in junior high school the curves were V shaped. Those results were explained in reference with selfdefensiveness, learning of anxiety, resistance to anxiety, and acquisition of self-concept; (c) the test anxiety was shown to have a negative effect on both academic achievement and intelligence test scores. Furthermore, it was to be also found in teacher-made tests that higher test anxiety students were inferior to lower in all the school subjects.     

Sexual behavior of Colombian high school students

This paper presents the results of a survey on the sexual behavior of Colombian high school students. It documents significant gender differences in the sexual behavior of Colombian adolescents as compared with the more egalitarian sexual behavior of their American and European counterparts. The study indicates that prostitutes are playing a decreasing role in the sexual lives of Colombian males as a result of a trend toward premarital coital permissiveness among Colombian females. The findings also support previous studies which indicate that there are intrinsic gender differences in the intensity and frequency of sexual desire.     

Reward sensitivity and substance abuse in middle school and high school students

In this study, the authors investigated the relation between reward and punishment sensitivity and adolescent substance use. The sample (N = 216; 130 girls, 85 boys) was drawn from high school and middle school students enrolled in a Midwestern suburban school district. Participants completed a substance use questionnaire and the Sensitivity to Punishment and Sensitivity to Reward Questionnaire (R. Torrubia, C. Avila, J. Molto, & X. Caseras, 2001). For 13 of 15 types of substance abuse, students with high reward sensitivity and low punishment sensitivity showed the highest levels of use. This finding supports the hypothesis of an interaction effect between reward sensitivity and punishment sensitivity and suggests that individuals who are high in reward sensitivity but low in sensitivity to punishment may be at a higher risk for substance abuse.     

Conservatism of Israeli junior high school students: interethnic differences

The aims of the study were (a) to establish the factor structure characterizing Israeli junior high school students of Western and Oriental ethnic origin on the Children's Scale of Social Attitudes, (b) to compare the Israeli factor structure with those for school children from other societies, and (c) to examine whether the Israeli school children's factor structure resembled those for Israeli adults as well as for adults from other societies. Analysis indicated that Israeli junior high school children from both Western and Oriental ethnic groups were characterized by similar factors of general conservatism, namely, Religion, Antihedonism, and Punitiveness, although the Orientals were more conservative on these factors than the Westerners. In addition, the present factor structure resembled those for groups of school children as well as adults from other societies, reconfirming that factors of general conservatism have cross-cultural validity.