An Ethnic Minority Perspective: Association Between Negative Life Events and Depressive Symptoms in Yi Adolescents in China.

Objective: This study explored whether anxiety and core self-evaluation mediate the relationship between negative life events and depressive symptoms in adolescents of the Yi ethnic minority in China.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a convenience sample of 627 Yi adolescents 10-19 years old (252 males, 40.2%) from primary, middle and high schools in Liangshan Prefecture in China completed the Adolescent Self-Rating Life Events Checklist (ASLEC) to report on negative life events, the Second Edition of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) to report on depressive symptoms, the Core Self-Evaluations Scale (CSES) to describe core self-evaluation, and the Screen for Child Anxiety-Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) to report anxiety symptoms.

Results: In Pearson correlation analysis, total score and dimension subscores on the ASLEC correlated positively with total score and dimension subscores on the SCARED survey as well as with total score on the BDI. Total ASLEC score and dimension subscores correlated negatively with total CSES score. Mediation analysis indicated that negative life events affected depressive symptoms directly, as well as indirectly via core self-evaluation (mediating effect was 0.087; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.063-0.113; p<0.001). The chain-mediated pathway effect was significant (mediating effect was 0.017; 95% CI, 0.011-0.026; p<0.001).

Conclusion: Yi adolescents in Liangshan Prefecture show certain prevalence of anxiety and depression, and they score relatively low on core self-evaluation. In this ethnic group, negative life events can affect depressive symptoms directly as well as indirectly through chain-mediated effects of anxiety and core self-evaluation.