Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Educational Innovation and Philosophical Inquiries

DOI: 10.54254/2753-7048/11/20230717

Research on Causes of Depression in Adolescents

Manrong Gao1,a,*
1
RDFZ Chaoyang Branch School, Beijing, 100080, China
a. [email protected]
*corresponding author

Abstract: In adolescence, the development of individual physiological characteristics is

often very fast, while the psychological development is relatively slow, which leads to a
state of disequilibrium of the body and mind, and in some serious cases, even internal
imbalance, resulting in a variety of negative emotional expressions such as mental distress,
despair, pessimism, and helplessness, as well as other internal stress psychological
problems such as mental depression and anxiety. In recent years, there has been a
significant increase in the number of cases in which adolescents in China have withdrawn
from school, become depressed, or even committed suicide due to academic pressure and
family factors in high school. These facts have prompted adolescent education scholars to
pay continuous attention to the underlying causes of depressive behaviors and their
countermeasures among adolescents.

Keywords: depression in adolescents, causes, countermeasures

1. Introduction
The latest clinical related social professional survey and statistical data research in China show that
the depression population is showing a new trend of younger people in recent years. Various family
reasons may be the pathogenic factors that cause some adolescents to suffer from depression, and
further promote the influence of depression in the adolescent population. Therefore, parents play a
key role in the detection and early identification of depression in children, as well as in creating a
harmonious family atmosphere by improving parent-child relationship. In addition to improving the
family living environment, adolescents’ own development and physical and mental health are also
closely related to the daily emotional care, habit training and mental health care that their parents
carry out in life. How to make Chinese teenagers stay away from psychological emotions and
depression as soon as possible has become an unavoidable major focus topic faced by parents,
schools and society across the country in recent years. This requires the government and the
educational and cultural system to make overall use of all social resources to reduce the incidence
of psychological problems among adolescents, and to build a relaxed, warm and happy space for the
growth and development of adolescents across the country. This paper analyzes the causes of
adolescent depression and proposes corresponding strategies.

© 2023 The Authors. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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DOI: 10.54254/2753-7048/11/20230717

2. Educational Stress
2.1. Family
2.1.1.Parents Only Focus on Their Children’s Grades
Many of the children who are plagued by depression are top students in the top schools and have
excellent grades and high self-esteem. Once the test results are not as good as expected, they will be
unable to contain their rage, anxiety, depression, and even suicidal tendencies. This stress makes
children feel anxiety and stress at a very high level, but the repairing power of the minor is much
less than that of adults, so these negative emotions are difficult to control and relieve. This is one of
the direct causes of autism in children and emotional depression episodes in adolescents [1]. A large
proportion of parents are overly concerned with their children’s homeschooling, and poor early
parent-child relationships can significantly hinder children’s development of their own
independence, interpersonal skills, and social skills. The complete breakdown of the early
parent-child relationship (or the loss of a parent) will eventually lead to a breakdown of the
parent-child attachment relationship, which is a major risk factor for depression and anxiety in
adolescents.
2.1.2.Parental Behavior Control
Parental behavior control is essential to eliminate emotional problems in adolescents. Parents who
are proactive in caring for their children and noticing changes in their child’s behavior and speech
can detect emotional problems in advance. However, if parents achieve total control by intruding on
the child’s inner self, the child will subconsciously be in a psychological state of avoidance of the
parent-child relationship, which often leads to internal conflict in adolescents. In addition, parents
of children who are overly authoritarian will keep their children under strong dependence and strict
discipline for a long time, which will gradually make the minor children feel the loss of freedom
and also produce a series of emotional reactions such as anxiety, fear, and anger. Moreover, there is
no place to release the repressed emotional state of the minor, which leads to the long-term
accumulation of emotions and further depression [2].
2.1.3.Mental Health Status of Parents
The development of a child’s physical and mental health depends on the environment in which he
or she lives, especially the mental health of the caregivers who play a major role. The presence of a
parent with a psychological disorder can lead to a stressful environment for many adolescents,
which can be detrimental to the child’s psychological development. Also, parental psychological
disorders can be inherited from one generation to the next.
2.1.4.Stressful Events in the Family
Some major emotional events such as marital divorce between parents, death of one parent,
domestic violence, abandonment, or early emotional trauma can lead to unhealthy psychological
development in adolescents.
2.2. Educational Stress
Adolescents’ pursuit of academic achievement leads to a dramatic increase in academic stress,
which can lead to frustration, irritability, and further depression. As a result of increased academic
pressure, students will have less time for after-school activities and physical activity. It also reduces

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DOI: 10.54254/2753-7048/11/20230717

the opportunity for students to adjust their mindsets. The expectations of parents, teachers, and
schools will correspondingly increase the psychosocial pressure on these students themselves. For
example, the disappointment, pessimism, or anxiety shown by parents and teachers when they fail
an exam can be directly transmitted to students and cause negative psychological effects and
negative emotions to emerge.
3. Personality Emotional Stress
3.1. Extroverted Personality
Personality is only one of the factors influencing depression, and people with extroverted
personalities are usually at a lower risk of depression. However, extroverted personalities can make
them more likely to conceal depressive tendencies because of their innate personality reasons.
When an extroverted personality is depressed and would like to express the true feelings, they will
be taken as a joke by others. And this is when the helplessness of not being understood will be even
more intense. On the other hand, an extrovert may be afraid to ask for help in order to maintain the
impression of being outgoing and cheerful, hiding suppressed negative emotions. Others may miss
the best opportunity to help because they do not receive the signal to ask for help [3].
3.2. Introverted Personality
Introverted teens have difficulty expressing their feelings, and communication with friends is one of
the main ways to express them. However, the interpersonal problems that come with it are also a
cause of distress for teenagers. Introverts have a higher cost of communication in establishing
relationships, so it is difficult to establish new relationships in a short period of time, and thus they
tend to feel marginalized in the group. This prolonged interpersonal stress can also cause depression
if adolescents do not have the right ways to cope with it.
4. Social Environment Pressure
Most Chinese adolescents are keen on using social media for instant communication, which can
help adolescents share aspects of their growth with their peers in order to perceive social support [4].
In addition, it has been found that social support and subjective well-being are significantly and
positively related. The more support adolescents received from their families, friends and groups,
the more respect and understanding they experienced, and the higher their subjective well-being.
Parental spoiling, excessive protection and support given by family members, and poor peer
relationships can negatively affect adolescents’ mental health [5-6].
5. Strategies for Coping with Adolescent Depression
5.1. Family
Persistent deterioration of a child’s mood disorder requires seeking timely and symptomatic
treatment by professionals. Good parenting practices are also important in the prevention of
depression and in the treatment of depression in adolescents. Academic and interpersonal pressures
during adolescence, among other things, can overwhelm adolescents. Parents should consider taking
effective measures to lower their expectations of their children and learn to spend time and
communicate with them. It is also recommended that parents adopt a relaxed and democratic
approach to parenting, create a healthy and harmonious family atmosphere, and treat their teenager
as an important member of the family. Respect the child’s wishes and choices but do not coddle
them. At the same time, parents should give their teenagers enough psychological support and

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DOI: 10.54254/2753-7048/11/20230717

encouragement to cultivate their ability to express their personal ideas and handle problems calmly,
as well as their self-confidence, optimism, courage, and positive character. Parents also need to take
a comprehensive and rational view of academic performance and focus on the mental health of
adolescents to prevent the occurrence of some psychological problems [7].
5.2. Teenager
Adolescents need the ability to understand themselves correctly. When encountering problems, they
need to learn to look at them from a different perspective. When a negative problem arises, it can be
adjusted by shifting attention. At the same time, teenager can actively participate in various
activities in and out of school, express the inner thoughts, and properly handle conflicts with
classmates and friends. Teenager should also take the initiative to communicate with their parents
and teachers to find the best solution when they encounter problems. Finally, the social should pay
attention to the psychological and sports health courses, and consciously develop the ability to
regulate our emotions.
5.3. School
School teachers can offer counseling courses related to depression to give students a better
understanding of depression. Mental health lectures can also give young people a clearer
understanding of the value of their own lives. At the same time, by opening a network counseling
room, school can provide personalized counseling and training services for adolescents when
student face depression crises or other psychological problems. Secondly, in accordance with
national requirements, schools can regularly screen students for depression and pay attention to the
psychological and health status of each student [8].
5.4. Society
The government should pay attention to the problem of depression among adolescents and
cooperate with medical institutions to promote medical knowledge on the prevention of depression
and help adolescents to form an objective and complete understanding of the disease. In addition,
support should be given to adolescents with mental illnesses to make them feel warm at all times,
such as the establishment of love huts and counseling rooms to disseminate information about the
illness.
6. Conclusion
In recent years, the current state of mental health of most adolescents in China has become more
and more alarming. This paper analyzes the causes of adolescent mental illness and the measures to
deal with it. Education, social environment, and individuals must pay more attention to adolescent
mental health and create an open and inclusive interpersonal environment for adolescent depression.
It is important to create an open and inclusive interpersonal climate for adolescents’ depression so
that adolescents can seek effective social help when they encounter major problems in the future,
and so that they can grow up healthy and happy.
However, this paper mainly analyzes it through literature review and lacks empirical analysis,
such as questionnaire survey and correlation analysis. This paper will be further improved in the
future.

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DOI: 10.54254/2753-7048/11/20230717

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