The longitudinal associations among perceived discrimination, social initiative, and depressive symptoms in Chinese rural left-behind adolescents

摘要

Introduction: Perceived discrimination is a significant stressor in the lives of Chinese rural left-behind adolescents. Although some research has examined the effects of perceived discrimination on left-behind adolescents' psychosocial functioning, the majority of existing research is crosssectional, which limits the understanding of the underlying mechanism of these effects. The current study used a longitudinal design to explore how perceived discrimination is associated with psychosocial functioning (i.e., depressive symptoms and social initiative) over time in Chinese rural left-behind adolescents.