Experiencing depression and peer rejection in chronically ill adolescents

Subject Areas : روان درمانگری

Karineh Tahmasian ¹ , Asieh Anari ² , Samira Karamlo ³ , Mahdieh Shafiee Tabar ⁴

1 - PhD Shahid Beheshti University
2 - Tarbiat Moalem University
3 - M. A. in Familytherapy
4 - PhD Candidate Student Shahid Beheshti University

Received: 2015-06-05 Accepted : 2015-06-05 Published : 2009-09-23

Keywords: Depression, adolescent, peer rejection, chronic illness,

Abstract :

Chronic illness can put adolescents at risk of such disorders as depression, which may lead to rejection by peers. This study compared depression and peer rejection in chronically ill and in healthy adolescents. 33 chronically ill and 33 healthy students from Tehran's high schools were selected by multistage sampling method. Participants completed the Peer Rejection Questionnaire (Tah- massian, 2005) and Child Depression Inventory (Kovacs, 1992). Results demonstrated a singnificant correlation between depression and peer rejection (r=0.41, P=0.001). The chronic patients' averages of depression and peer rejection were higher than that of healthy students (P=0.001). There was no gender difference in depression among chronically ill students. However, chronically ill boys reported more peer rejection than girls.