Relationships of gender, duration of living in a foster home, resilience, intimacy of friendship, prosocial behavior, and perceived stigmatization with depression among adolescents in foster homes in Thailand: A correlational study

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Background: Adolescents in foster homes encounter difficulties adjusting to new environments and managing life transitions. The separation from their families often results in emotional distress, which may increase their susceptibility to depression. Objective: This descriptive correlational study examined relationships of gender, duration of living in a foster home, resilience, intimacy of friendship, prosocial behavior, and perceived stigmatization with depression among adolescents in foster homes. Methods: Purposive sampling was used to recruit 224 adolescents from two foster homes situated in Bangkok and its surrounding regions. Data were collected from August to December 2023 using a general information questionnaire, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, the Resilience Inventory, the Friendship Intimacy Scale, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (as Part of the Assessment of Prosocial Behavior), and the Perceived Stigmatization Questionnaire. Data analysis was conducted using Spearman’s rank correlation. Results: 32.14% of the adolescents reported experiencing depression. Approximately 70.09% of participants were female. Participants were aged 10 to 24 (Mean = 14.29, SD = 3.04). The mean resilience score was 100.87 (SD = 14.48), the mean intimacy of friendship score was 41.54 (SD = 8.77), the mean prosocial behavior score was 6.25 (SD = 1.78), and the mean perceived stigmatization score was 16.50 (SD = 6.23). Gender was significantly correlated with depression (rpb= -0.232, p < 0.001, 95% CI [-0.36, -0.07]). Females reported higher depression scores than males. The duration of living in a foster home, resilience, and the intimacy of friendship showed significant negative monotonic correlations with depression, with correlation coefficients of rs = -0.133 (p < 0.05, 95% CI [-0.27, -0.02]), rs = -0.320 (p < 0.01, 95% CI [-0.44, -0.19]), and rs = -0.150 (p < 0.05, 95% CI [-0.29, -0.01]), respectively. In contrast, perceived stigmatization showed a significant positive monotonic correlation with depression (rs = 0.250, p < 0.01, 95% CI [0.11, 0.36]). Additionally, there was no significant correlation between prosocial behavior and depression. Conclusion: Being female, shorter duration of living in a foster home, less resilience, less intimacy of friendship, and higher perceived stigmatization are related to higher depression in adolescents in foster homes. These results provided information for psychiatric and mental health nurses in planning care to prevent or reduce depression for this vulnerable group of adolescents.

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Related topics: Child Welfare and Adoption · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development · Resilience and Mental Health