EVALUATION OF DEPRESSION WITH RESPECT TO DIFFERENT SOCIAL SKILL LEVELS: A TURKISH STUDY

The aim was to evaluate the level of depression in 12-14-year-old secondary school students with different social skill levels using the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI; Kovacs, 1985) and the Matson Evaluation of Social Skills with Youngsters (MESSY, Matson, Rotatori, & Helsel, 1983). In order to analyze data, ANOVA, Tukey test, regression analysis and correlation analysis were employed. Results of the study indicated that there was a significant effect of social skills level on depression and students with more positive social behaviors had lower levels of depression, whereas students with negative social behaviors suffered from higher levels of depression. A significant negative relationship between the students' positive social behaviors and depression (r = -.25, p < .001), and a positive relationship between negative social behaviors and depression (r = .28, p < .001) were found.