The relationships between negative life events, perceived support in the school environment and depressive symptoms among Norwegian senior high school students: a prospective study

The present study prospectively explored the main and interactive effect of negative life events and social support from teachers and classroom peers on depressive symptoms in a sample of 198 (111 females, 87 males) students in a Norwegian senior high school. In the longitudinal multivariate analyses, self-reported depressive symptom levels at time-point two (T₂) were predicted by initial levels of depressive symptomatology, teacher support, and gender. Support from classroom peers at time-point one (T₁) was not associated with symptoms of depression at (T₂). Multivariate cross-sectional analysis also detected a significant positive association between negative life events and depressive symptoms. Finally, results suggest that perceived teacher support may buffer against negative life events leading to symptoms of depression.