Sex-Specific Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms among Multicultural Adolescents: Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Protective Factors.

Abstract

Multicultural adolescents experience higher levels of depressive symptoms than their non-multicultural counterparts. Although depressive symptoms vary by sex, few studies have examined sex-specific trajectories and their protective predictors, particularly among multicultural youth. Using nine annual waves of nationally representative longitudinal data from multicultural adolescents in South Korea (N = 1,500; 50.67% girls; M_age = 10.98, SD = 0.37), this study identified the sex-specific depressive symptom trajectories and their early intrapersonal and interpersonal predictors. Latent class growth models identified four trajectories for girls: low stable (30.43%), low increasing (36.12%), high-increasing then plateauing (19.29%), and high decreasing (14.16%). Three trajectories emerged for boys: low stable (46.76%), moderate increasing (43.21%), and high-increasing then plateauing (10.03%). After adjusting for age and socioeconomic status, multinomial logistic regression analyses showed that higher self-esteem significantly distinguished the resilient low stable group from the low increasing and high decreasing trajectories for girls, as well as the high-increasing then plateauing trajectory for boys. Furthermore, perceived family and friend support were associated with a lower likelihood of the high-increasing then plateauing trajectory in girls. For boys, teacher support predicted a lower risk of the moderate increasing trajectory. The findings underscore the importance of considering sex differences in understanding the progression of depressive symptoms and the key protective factors among multicultural adolescents, providing valuable insights for prevention and intervention efforts.