Thirteenth International Conference on Health, Wellness & Society

Abstract

Gratitude, as an essential psychological resource for adolescents, contributes to their well-being. However, the exploration of gratitude development among early adolescents and its impact on mental health from a longitudinal perspective remains limited. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the influence of the developmental trajectories of gratitude on depression in adolescents and the role of self-esteem accounting for the influence. This study followed 660 junior high school students with three assessments in two years. The participants reported their levels of gratitude, self-esteem, and depression across three-time points. Results include: (1) The developmental trajectory of gratitude showed four heterogeneous groups in two years: “moderate gratitude lasting group” (34.0%), “high gratitude lasting group” (29.0%), “moderate gratitude improved group” (12.8%), and “high gratitude decline group” (24.2%); (2) Compared with the adolescents in the “moderate gratitude lasting group”, the depression scores of the adolescents in the “moderate gratitude improved group” and “high gratitude lasting group” were significantly lower in the last year of middle school; (3) With the “moderate gratitude lasting group” as the reference group, self-esteem significantly mediated the effects of the “moderate gratitude improved group” and the “high gratitude lasting group” on the depression of adolescents in the last year of middle school. Adolescent gratitude presented heterogeneous developmental trajectories. The types of developmental trajectories of gratitude affected depressive symptoms in junior high school adolescents, while self-esteem played a mediating role. Implications for improving adolescents’ mental health from the findings of this study are discussed.