While trait depression has consistently been identified as a high-risk factor for clinical depression in numerous studies, its relationship with emotional experiences—core indicators of clinical depression—remains unclear, particularly among adolescents, a group with a high prevalence of depressive symptoms. Drawing upon the top-down model of personality, coping, and emotion, as well as theoretical models of emotion dysregulation in depression, this study aims to explore the mechanisms through which adolescent trait depression is associated with emotional experiences, from the perspectives of self-compassion and cognitive reappraisal. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 916 junior high school students (436 females; Mean age = 13.182 years, SD = 0.920 years) from Yan’an City, Shaanxi Province. The survey utilized measures including the trait depression scale, self-compassion scale, cognitive reappraisal subscale, and the positive and negative affect schedule. Descriptive statistical analyses, including reliability analysis of the research questionnaire, exploratory factor analysis to assess common method bias, tests of normality, and Pearson correlation analysis among the study variables, were performed using SPSS 27.0.1.0. The mediation effects of self-compassion and cognitive reappraisal in the relationship between trait depression and emotional experiences were examined using Mplus Version 8.3. Mediation analysis showed that: (1) Trait depression was not only directly associated with positive and negative emotions, but also partially and indirectly related to them through the mediating effect of self-compassion. (2) Cognitive reappraisal partially mediated the relationship between trait depression and positive emotions. (3) The chain mediating effect from self-compassion to cognitive reappraisal partially mediated the relationship between trait depression and positive emotions. These findings suggest that while self-compassion and cognitive reappraisal serve distinct mediating effects in the association between adolescent trait depression and emotional experiences, they also exhibit a synergistic effect when operating jointly, highlighting their complementary roles in this psychological process. This study not only clarifies how adolescent trait depression is associated with emotional experiences, but also provides a theoretical foundation for the prevention and intervention of clinical depression.
Song et al. (Sat,) studied this question.