Relationships Between Gratitude Disposition and Depression in Children

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to examine relationships among children ' s depressive symptoms, cognitions related to depression, and gratitude disposition. The participants, 598 pupils in the 4 th to 6 th grades at 3 schools, completed a questionnaire twice, with an approximately 5 -month test-retest interval. The questionnaire included items about interpersonal gratitude, depressive schema, and depressive symptoms. Cross-lagged and multi-group analysis with structural equation modeling revealed that, for the 4 th graders, gratitude disposition had stronger relationships with depression than with depressive schema. On the other hand, depressive schema predicted 6 th graders ' subsequent depressive symptoms more than gratitude. The analysis also revealed that it was depressive symptoms that increased subsequent depressive schema. Possible mechanisms of the development of depressive symptoms in childhood were discussed.