How Do School Connectedness and Attachment to Parents Interrelate in Predicting Adolescent Depressive Symptoms?

Abstract

In this study, we tested whether school connectedness mediated or moderated the effect of parental attachment on adolescent depressive symptoms. A sample of 153 secondary school students ranging from 8th to 12th grade were assessed using measures of parental attachment, school connectedness, and depressive symptoms. Independently, parental attachment and school connectedness accounted for 28% and 49% of the variance in depressive symptoms respectively, whereas collectively they accounted for 53% of the variance. School connectedness only partially mediated the relationship between parental attachment and depressive symptoms, and there was no significant moderation effect.

We acknowledge the financial support of the Australian Research Council.

Notes

Note: PSSM = Psychological Sense of School Membership; PAQ = Parental Attachment Questionnaire total score; CDI = Children's Depression Inventory.

∗p < .01, two-tailed.

Note: PSSM = Psychological Sense of School Membership; PAQ = Parental Attachment Questionnaire total score.

Note: PSSM = Psychological Sense of School Membership; PAQ = Parental Attachment Questionnaire total score.