Moderating role of social support on relationship between self-efficacy and depression in school children

Objective To explore the role of social support on the relationship between self-efficacy and depression in school children.Methods A total of 104 children aged 10-16 years were selected from a primary and a high school in Shangcai county of Henan province and surveyed with Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS),General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES),Perceived Social Support Scale (PSSS),and a self-designed demographic questionnaire between March and April 2016.Descriptive and regression statistics were used to analyze the data collected.Results Of the children,8.65% were identified with depression symptoms.Among all the children,the average scores were 19.74±3.90 for family social support,40.46±6.62 for social support from friends or significant others,and 25.49±3.70 for self-efficacy.Regression analyses revealed that self-efficacy and social support were reversely associated with depression (β=-0.228 and β=-0.344).The product coefficient for self-efficacy and social support scores is of significance (β=0.196).Conclusion Social support plays a moderating role on the relationship between self-efficacy and depression in children.