Cultural differences in the daily manifestation of adolescent depression: A comparative study of American and Korean high school seniors

"The goal of this study was to investigate how adolescents' daily experiences of schoolwork and leisure activities relate to depression within a culture and across cultures. A sample of 62 high school seniors in the United States and 58 seniors in Korea reported the amount of time spent in daily activities and their psychological states (affect and attention states) in these activities. Korean adolescents enduring high academic stress caused by studying for the competitive university entrance examination spent more time in schoolwork and less time in leisure than their American counterparts. Korean adolescents' affect and attention states across daily activities were more negative relative to American adolescents. While the amount of time spent in schoolwork and leisure activities was not an important factor relating to depression, affect and attention states in specific daily activities were related to depression within each adolescent group. In particular, among Korean adolescents, affect and attention states during schoolwork activities were related to depression; however, these psychological states during leisure activities were unrelated to depression. Among American adolescents, affect states during leisure activities and attention states during schoolwork activities were related to depression. These findings suggest that the daily manifestation of adolescent depression was not prevalent across daily contexts, but was limited to a specific context. In the combined sample of Korean and American adolescents, the amount of time spent in leisure activities, affect states in both schoolwork and leisure activities, and attention states in schoolwork activities explained a significant variance in depression. These findings suggest that Korean adolescents' experience of ""exam hell,"" particularly the lack of leisure activities and more negative emotional and cognitive experiences of daily activities, are partly responsible for their higher depression relative to American adolescents."

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Human and Community Development

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2011

Author dc:creator

• Lee, Meery

Contributors dc:contributor

• Larson, Reed W.

• Anthropology, Cultural
• Education, Educational Psychology
• Psychology, Clinical

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 1994 Lee, Meery

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

AAI9522136
(UMI)AAI9522136

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/21169