Depression among Adolescents as a Function of Social Support and Parental Bonding

Depression is an emotional and mental disorder that affects person's activity, thoughts, sense of well-being and behavior. Its rise within adolescents has become a matter of concern and has put emphasis on exploring related elements that could result in depression. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of parental bonding and social support on depression among adolescents. To explore this relationship total of 160 adolescents (80 boys and 80 girls) in the age range 14–19 years were selected from various schools. Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale (William Reynolds, 2002) was applied to find out the severity of depressive symptoms in adolescents. Social support questionnaire (SSQ) (Sarason, Levine, Basham, & Sarason, 1983) was administered to assess social support. Parental Bonding Instrument (Parker, Tupling and Brown, 1979) was applied to evaluate the children's perceptions of the parent-child relationship in terms of parental behaviors and attitudes. Multiple regression analysis was used to analyze the data. It was found that social support (β=-0.60), father care (β=-0.22) and mother care (β =-0.12) were negatively contributing to adolescent depression. Father overprotection (β =0.44) and Mother overprotection (β=0.20) are positively contributing to adolescent depression. Observed findings have vital implications in observing an adolescent for signs of depression and its etiology.