Abstract:
Late adolescents are at risk of depression due to various factors, with some linked to their life stage. The purpose of this predictive correlational study was to examine depression and its influencing factors among late adolescents in high schools in the Muang District of Chanthaburi Province. Stratified random sampling was employed to select the sample (n=160). Data were gathered by seven questionnaires: a Personal Information Form, the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale, the Social Intelligence Scale, the Family Connectedness Scale, the Friendship Intimacy Scale, the Perception of Cyberbullying Victim Scale, and the Coping with Cyberbullying Scale. These scales yielded Cronbachs alpha coefficients of .87, .82, .90, .82, .91, and .95, respectively. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and stepwise multiple regression. The findings revealed depression among 51.25% of the sample. Among these, 25% had mild to moderate depression, and 26.25% had severe depression. Stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that family connectedness (β = -.39, p< .001) and social Intelligence (β = -.15, p< .05) had statistically significant effects on depression. These factors together significantly explained 22.30% (R 2 = .223, p< .05) for the variance in depression among these late adolescents. The results suggest that health care providers be aware of late-adolescent depression as an important mental health concern, and that theypromote mental health programs/ activities to prevent or decrease depression by enhancing family connectedness and social intelligence.