PSYCHOLOGICAL RESILIENCE AND EMPATHY AS PREDICTOR

OF DEPRESSION AMONG INDONESIAN ADOLESCENTS

Endah Mujahidah & Ratih Arruum Listiyandini

Faculty of Psychology,YARSI University, Indonesia
AIMC-2017- SSH-493
Introduction (1)
Adolescence
• Adolescence is a transition and critical period (Papalia, Olds & Feldman, 2009; Batubara, 2010; Shaffer, Kipp,
Wood & Willoughby, 2013).
• faced with a variety of developmental tasks (Papalia, Olds & Feldman, 2009; Hilt, Hanson, & Pollak, 2011).
• The failure of achieving the developmental tasks, often make adolescents susceptible to depression ((Erikson
in Anindyajati 2013)

Depression
• Depression is a serious problem that occurs in adolescents (Keenan & Hipwell, 2005)
• Prevalence of depression find between 14-20% in adolescence (Paterson, dkk. 1993)
• Depression negatively affects several things in life such as school, family, social difficulty and impacts mental
health problems in adulthood (Seimeon in Milin, Walker, & Chow, 2003; Thorsteinsson, Ryan, &
Sveinbjornsdottir, 2013).

Resilience
• Resilience helps adolescence in overcoming adversity.
• Bhamani, et al. (2013) explains that resilience is a basic aspect that is very important for adolescents to make
psychological and physical health
• Previous research showed that the higher of resilience associated with lower depression (Ziaian, et al., 2012)

Empathy
• Empathy helps adolescence make positive relationships with others.
• Previous research showed that empathy negative correlation with depression (Cusi, MacQueen, Spreng &
McKinnon, 2011)
Introduction (2)
 This study aim to examined the simultaneous effect of empathy and
resilience to depression.
 This is also the first study which explore about the dynamics
relationship between empathy, resilience, and depression in
Indonesian adolescents.
 This research would bring benefit to be reference for develop
education program of depression prevention and mental health
promotion, especially in young people community.
Literature Review
 Symptoms of depression: dysphoria, dyshedonia, appetite
problem, sleeping problem, psychomotor agitation or retardation,
fatigue or loos of energy, feelings of worthlessness or guilt, problem
in concentrate, thoughts of death (APA,2013).

 Resilience defines as an ability to thrive in the face of adversity

(Connor & Davidson, 2003).

 Empathy defined as comprehension of and sharing in another

individual’s emotional state or situation (Jolliffe & Farrington,
2006).
Literature Review:
Component of Empathy (Jolliffe &
Farrington, 2006
Affective • Understanding of another
Empathy person’s affective state

• Ability to feel an appropriate

emotional response when one
Cognitive
is confroned with the mental
Empathy
state attributed to another
person
Methodology
Design
Non-experimental, Quantitative, associative design.

Measurement
Depression: Center for Epidemiologic Resilience: Connor-Davidson Empathy: Basic Empathy Scale The instruments have been
Studies Depression Scale Revised-10 Resilience Scale Indicator (CD-RISC); validated and adapted in Bahasa
(CESDR-10); 10 items ( α =0,834) 25 items (α =0,919) (BES); 20 items (α=0,870) Indonesia.

Participant
Sample involved were 230 Sampling: non-probability
live in Jakarta, Indonesia
adolescents aged 12-20 years convenience sampling

Analysis Techniic
Multiple regression
Result: Demographic
Middle
adolescents
(15-17
Female years)
(55,2%) (70,9%)

1 million-3
million
rupiah Parent
expending
per month
(47,8%).

Demographic of Respondent
Result: Depression,
Resilience and
Empathy
• Majority of • Majority of • Majority of
respondent doesn’t respondent have a respondent have an
have clinical high degree of average degree of
significance of resilience (59,6%) empathy (80%)
depression (50,0%)

Depression Resilience Empathy

Results & Discussion
The statistical regression analysis indicated that:

1. Resilience negatively predicts depression among

adolescence by 1.8%.
 It indicated that, the higher of resilience followed by lower
depression in adolescents.
 Schure, Odden and Goins (2013) studies find that individual who
have high level of resilience are more likely to experience positive
emotions
 Resilience helps adolescents to stay optimal during their
developmemt even they face of some various problems including
their developmental tasks (Bonanno, 2004).
Results & Discussion
2. Empathy positively and significantly predicts depression,
especially affective empathy, would have higher tendency of
being depressed by 2%.
 This study is different from the previous of researchers that the role of
empathy as predictor of lower depression in adolescents.
 The mechanism of emotional regulation development might be play role in
relationship between affective empathy and depression.
 When adolescents are faced with negative feelings of others, it can lead to
the transmission of negative emotions and also might emergence of pain
along with others (Shamay-Tsoory in Schreiter, Pijnenborga, & Rota,
2013).
 Maladaptive emotional regulation could make adolescents fail to
distinguish between their feeling and others feeling. Hence the empathy
increases the inner preasure personally, that called personal distress (Batson,
1991).
Results & Discussion
3. The resilience and empathy, especially affective empathy,
simultaneously contribute to depression in adolescence by 5.5%
effective contribution.
 When adolescents have higher affective empathy, the tendency of being
depressed is also higher, but with the occurrence of resilience, the effect
of affective empathy will be regulated, so the tendency of being
depressed could be reduced.
 With resilience, adolescents will be able to control feelings (Grotberg,
1995), and regulate the emotions that arise when confronted in negative
emotions (Reivich & Shatte, 2002). So that it can help to feel dissolved
in other people's emotions or personal distess from affective empathy
and prevent the incress of depression.
 In this regard, psychological resilience seems to be positive mediator for
decrease the effect of affective empathy to depression
Recommendation
Implication of the study
 The result of this study are expected to bea reference to create program
for adolescents such as training. Training must be balaces with ability of
emotional regulation training.

Future Studies
 Using instrument that can measure the aspect of affective or cognitive
empathy more specifically, including the personal distress in affective
empathy.
 Using specific samples such as adolescencts who suffer from depression
to get better reflection of the population
 Exploring more about the other factors that might be contributes to
depression such as emotional regulation, personality, attachment, etc
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Thank you