Higher Socioeconomic Status Predicts Less Risk of Depression in Adolescence: Serial Mediating Roles of Social Support and Optimism.

Family socioeconomic status (SES) is known to have a powerful influence on adolescent depression. However, the inner mechanisms underlying this association are unclear. Here, we explore this issue by testing the potential mediating roles of social support (interpersonal resource) and optimism (intrapersonal resource), based on the predictions of the Reserve Capacity Model (RCM). Participants were 652 adolescents (age range: 11-20 years old, Mage =14.55 years, SD = 1.82; 338 boys (51.80%)) from two junior and two senior high schools in Wuhan, China. They completed questionnaires measuring family SES, perceived social support, trait optimism, and depression. Results showed, as predicted, (1) …