Association of Parental Divorce and Parental Loss with Depression in Adolescents

Abstract

Objective: The objective of the present study was to investigate the association of parental divorce and parental loss by death with depression in adolescents. It was hypothesized that there would be a significant difference in the level of Depression between Adolescents with Parental Divorce, Adolescents with Parental Death, and Adolescents Living in Intact-Two Parent Families.

Research Design: Non-Experimental Research Design (Differential Research).

Place and Duration of Study: Different Orphan and Shelter homes and Educational Institutions of Karachi from 2015-2016.

Sample and Methods. The sample comprised of 180 participants with an age range of 11-19 years. The measure used along with Demographic Information Form was Siddiqui-Shah Depression Scale (Siddiqui & Shah, 1992).

Results and Conclusion: The results of Analysis of Variance shows significant differences on the scores of depression between adolescents with parental divorce, adolescents with parental death and adolescents living in intact-twoparent families. Further, results of Post Hoc Tukey’s HSD reveals that the adolescents with parental divorce scored higher than adolescents living in twointact parent families. Moreover, the mean differences between adolescents with parental death and adolescents living in intact-two-parent families and also adolescents with parental divorce versus adolescents with parental death were found to be statistically insignificant. Outcomes of the study highlights the significance of parental divorce in relation to depression within Pakistani cultural context.