Depression Youth Characteristics Can Be Seen From Sensitive Behavior Against Parents Criticism

Illustration (Bastian Riccardi/Pexels)

JAKARTA - Unlike healthy adolescents in general, depressive teens are found to be more sensitive to criticism than praise given by parents, according to a recent study published in Psychological Medicine and quoted by TimesofIndia.

The impact of youth depression is determined by means of measurements of increased brain activity and self-reported mood assessment. Teenage depression is a serious mental health problem that is also quite common, and one of which can cause them to have low self-confidence. While there are many possible causes of juvenile depression, negative interactions between parents and adolescents have been linked to this development of depression.

Lisanne Van Houtum from Leiden University in the Netherlands and colleagues investigated the emotional response and brain of a teenager with depression to input from parents, both negative and positive input. The researchers recruited 20 Dutch teenagers aged 13.5 to 18 who were diagnosed with dystima (small and chronic depression) or major depression (a severe form of acute depression).

A total of 59 healthy teenagers aged 12 to 18 years without depression were also recruited. For both groups, teenagers' parents were also invited to take part in the study. The researchers found that depressed teens and healthy teens experienced a downward in mood after being criticized and increased mood after being praised, compared to neutral feedback.

However, the increase in mood after praise is not significant in adolescents who are depressed compared to healthy teenagers.

Remaja yang mengalami depresi sangat senensi terhadap kritik orang tua, mereka melihat buruk pada diri themselves, dan kurang bergantung pada pandangan diri ketika dihadap dengan kritik orang tua, ujar Van Houtum.

Van Houtum says parents' involvement can help in the treatment of child depression. He advises parents to be able to identify and recognize valuable characteristics of their children, and by providing support for developing positive self-awareness.