Abstract: Objective To examine the relationship between familial socioeconomic status and depressive symptom among high school students in Nanjing city,Jiangsu province.Methods Depressive symptoms were assessed using Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale(SDS) among 2 202 high school students selected form 53 classes in 5 schools with random cluster sampling method in 2009 and 2010.Familial socioeconomic status included parental educational attainment,parental occupation,and average monthly family income.Results The total number of respondents was of 2 160,with a response rate of 98.1% and 2 118 of them participated the follow-up survey with a follow-up rate of 98.1%.There was no significant difference in the positive rate of depressive symptom betw een baseline survey and follow-up survey (χ²=1.658,P=0.198).While the proportions for moderate and severe depression were significantly higher in 2010 (χ²=11.447,P=0.010).Multivariate logistic analyses indicated that lower familial socioeconomic status was obviously linked to depressive symptoms among the students.Adjusted population attributable risks(PARs%) for familial income and parental educational attainment were high.Conclusion Familial socioeconomic status is associated to depressive symptoms in high school students in Nanjing city and much attention should be paid by health officers and instructive staff.