Longitudinal Associations Between Resilience and Depressive Symptoms During High School Transition

ABSTRACT In this study, the trajectories of depressive symptoms and the role of resilience were examined during the transition to high school. A five‐wave longitudinal survey, with 1‐month intervals, was conducted during the first semester of Grade 10 among 639 Chinese students (M age = 15.88; SD = 0.63; 52.2% females) from four high schools. Latent growth modelling was employed to analyse the data. Results indicated that a quadratic growth model adequately fit the data, showing a quadratic trajectory characterised by an initial rapid increase in depressive symptoms followed by gradual deceleration. Sex significantly predicted initial symptom levels, with females reporting higher symptoms than males, but did not predict rates of change. Higher resilience was associated with lower initial depressive symptoms and a decelerated trajectory over time. These findings suggest that resilience could be a valuable target for depressive symptom prevention and intervention programmes during the transition to high school.