Bridging Disciplinary Boundaries (January 11 - 14, 2007)

Purpose: Depression is an increasingly prevalent problem among adolescents in mainland China (UNICEF, 2004). It is associated with adolescents' low self-esteem, poor academic performance, more deviant activities, and increased health risk behaviors (Hesketh & Ding, 2005). However, there is little knowledge about the social determinants of depression among Chinese adolescents. Applying social capital theoretical framework, this study aims to investigate how social capital (i.e., resources inherent in social relationships that facilitate a social outcome) (Coleman, 1990) embedded in family and community, together with family human capital (i.e., parents' educational level) and financial capital (i.e., household income), influences the depression of Chinese adolescents. It is unique in that it incorporates family financial capital, family human capital, family social capital and community social capital into one conceptual framework, thus being able to 1) test the differential effects of these contextual factors on adolescents' depression; and 2) unravel the complex interplay among these contextual factors as they influence adolescents' depression simultaneously. Method: This study used data from a NIH-founded panel study (P50CA84735-01), China Seven Cities Study (Johnson, 2004). The CSCS started in the year 2002 and to date has collected three waves of data on health, mental health, and health-related behaviors with a nationally representative sample of over 12,000 adolescents. The current study used the combined dataset of three waves (N=5,164). Depression was measured by the validated Chinese-version CES-D (Radloff, 1977; Zhang, 2002); human capital and financial capital was assessed by parents' educational levels and family monthly income respectively; family social capital was measured by questions regarding parent-child interaction and parental monitoring, while community social capital by questions regarding neighborhood quality and neighborhood support. Structural equation modeling (via AMOS 5.0) was employed to test the direct and indirect effects of these contextual factors. Results: The hypothesized model provided a good fit to the data (Chi Square=410.916, df=36, p<.001, CFI=.905, RMSEA=.045). It identified five major findings: 1) higher family social capital is associated with lower adolescents' depression (Beta=-.157, p<.001); 2) higher community social capital predicts lower depression both directly (Beta=-.171, p<.001) and indirectly through increasing family social capital (Beta=.404, p<.001); 3) financial capital has no direct effects on depression, but influences depression indirectly through family social capital (Beta=-.134, p<.001); 4) higher human capital is associated with lower depression (Beta=-.043, p<.05); and 5) the female gender is associated with higher depression both directly (Beta=.101, p<.001) and indirectly through predicting lower family social capital (Beta=-.165, p<.001). Overall, 9.5% of the variance in depression was explained by the model. Implications: Theoretically, this study advances social capital theory by incorporating various dimensions of social capital into one framework and unraveling the mechanism by which social capital, human capital, and financial capital influence adolescent depression through multiplicative pathways. Practically, a better understanding of the effects of social capital on the depression of Chinese adolescents would guide the development of effective intervention and prevention programs to mitigate adolescents' depression through strengthening certain domains of social contexts. It suggests utilizing social capital as an innovative approach in social work practice.