Adolescent depression: structure of social representations of psychology students

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the structure of social representations of psychology students about adolescent depression.

Materials and Methods: It consists of an exploratory and descriptive data survey. A self-applied structured questionnaire and free evocation technique were used to obtain the data. Eighty psychology students participated in the research, divided into initial and final phases. The data were analyzed using the Evoc 2000 software to verify the frequency of word evocation, and the sociodemographic data were analyzed using descriptive statistics with the PSPP program.

Results: The structure of the social representation of depression in adolescence for participating academics is composed of a central core that involves the elements sadness, suicide, loneliness, isolation and discouragement. While the peripheral system corresponds to elements related to anguish, low self-esteem, family, suffering, bullying, conflicts, exclusion, medication and fear. The results show that the social representations of the participants are structured with a central core that involves diagnostic and experiential issues, and peripheral elements that correspond to the psycho-affective and psychosocial characteristics of adolescent depression.

Conclusion: It was observed that the social representations of psychology students are related to the psycho-affective and psychosocial spheres of the symptoms of depressive disorder in adolescence.