The Depressive Tendency Questionnaire for Chinese Middle School Students: Development and Initial Validation

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Mental Health Assessment

Background:

• Depressive tendency, an early indicator of depression, impacts quality of life.
• Existing depression scales often target severe symptoms and lack cultural specificity for Chinese adolescents.
• There's a need for culturally relevant tools to assess early-stage depression in Chinese middle school students.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a culturally relevant depressive tendency questionnaire for Chinese middle school students.
• To establish a psychometrically sound instrument for early identification of depressive tendencies.
• To provide a tool that aligns with the psychological structure of depressive tendency within the Chinese cultural context.

Main Methods:

• Initial item generation via literature review, open surveys, and interviews.
• Pilot testing and revision with 865 middle school students.
• Final validation using confirmatory factor analysis, reliability, validity, and measurement invariance testing on 1205 students.

Main Results:

• A 30-item questionnaire was finalized, assessing negative self, cognitive function, personal reserve, and social support.
• Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed good construct validity.
• Measurement invariance analysis indicated no significant gender or grade differences in scores, demonstrating good reliability and validity.

Conclusions:

• The study clarified the psychological structure of depressive tendencies in Chinese adolescents, offering a theoretical and empirical foundation.
• The validated questionnaire is a practical tool for mental health counseling and education in middle schools.
• This culturally adapted instrument supports early intervention and mental health promotion among Chinese students.