how do adolescents define depression? - cIRcle - University of ...

Chapter II: Literature Review
support can include "talked to someone who could do something concrete about the problem
(Folkman and Lazarus, 1986, p. 109; Lazarus, 1993, p. 237); talking "about problems-when they
appear and do not worry about them later" (Herman-Stahl et al., 1995, p. 657); or "talk to
someone to find out what to do... talk to someone who will understand how you feel... talk to
someone so that you'll feel better" (Walker et al., 1997, p. 398). Schonert-Reichl (2003)
indicates that seeking help is a problem-focused coping strategy associated with better
adjustment.
Compas et al. (2001) report that correlates of health are like correlates of coping (Seiffge-
Krenke, 1990) that may point to the ability to seek help. Association exists between engagement
coping (e.g., seeking social support) and lowered internalizing symptomatology (Compas et al.,
2001). In contrast, avoidant coping is often accompanied by the more severe characteristics of
depression (Seiffge-Krenke, 1990). In a longitudinal study of 194 adolescents (composed of four
annual assessments beginning with a mean age of 13.9 during the first survey) different types of
adolescents coping styles with depressive symptoms were explored (Seiffge-Krenke &
Klessinger, 2000). These researchers (Seiffge-Krenke & Klessinger, 2000) found that
adolescents with an approach-oriented coping style reported the fewest depressive symptoms at
Time 3 and Time 4, whereas adolescents with avoidant coping reported the most depressive
symptoms at both Times. Two years after the study, Seiffge-Krenke and Klessinger (2000) report
that all forms of avoidant coping were linked with high levels of depressive symptomatology.
Other studies that examined approach-oriented coping and depressive symptomatology have had
similar findings in such that approach-oriented coping was reflected with fewer depressive
symptoms (Herman-Stahl et al., 1995; Murberg & Bru, 2005). It appears that the type of coping
may be critical in detecting adolescents' early behaviors in seeking out social support for
depression.
There has been a wealth of research into help-seeking behaviors for mental health
problems, however not for an approach-oriented coping action such as specifically in talking to
someone when feeling depressed. In general, about half of the adolescents who identify
themselves as having a mental disorder seek help (Garland & Zigler, 1994; Hodgson, Feldman,
Corber, & Quinn, 1986). Mechanic (1986) reports that half of all people entering mental health
care either have symptoms and complaints that do not fit the criteria for a diagnosis or seek help
for problems other than those with which they present.
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