Abstract

RIBEIRO, Karla Carolina Silveira; MEDEIROS, Carolina Silva de; COUTINHO, Maria da Penha de Lima  and  CAROLINO, Zulmira Carla Gonçalves. Social representations and psychological distress in adolescents with depressive symptoms. Psicol. teor. prat. [online]. 2012, vol.14, n.3, pp. 18-33. ISSN 1516-3687.

The purpose of this research paper was to understand social representations of depression in high school adolescents in the city of João Pessoa, Paraíba. The study included 11 subjects aged between 14 and 17 years with depressive symptons, selected from a group of 296 adolescents. Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) and the Semi- Structured Interview were two of the instruments used in the research, allowing results to indicate that depression is associated with feelings of sadness, such as discouragement and suicidal ideas; mostly those people without human initiatives and who don't make plans for the future. These feelings may be related to various behaviors, such as isolation, aggressiveness and difficulty to be friend someone or even establish relationships. These associations are a result of adolescents experiences, as well as information and representations linked to a youth group they belong, pointing out to the need for preventive and educational practices in educational institutions.

Keywords : depression; adolescence; social representation; suicidal ideas; cross-sectional studies.

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