| Background The high prevalence of depressive symptoms among adolescents has profound impacts on their physical and psychological development, necessitating effective preventive interventions. However, existing studies have predominantly focused on isolated risk factors, failing to establish an integrated model that systematically examines the multi-level interactions between parental rearing styles, academic stress, childhood trauma, and adolescent depressive symptoms. Moreover, the potential protective effects of social support and psychological resilience in this context remain insufficiently elucidated. Objective This study aimed to construct a structural equation model with multiple pathways to investigate the comprehensive mechanisms through which negative parenting styles, childhood trauma, academic burnout, psychological resilience, and social support collectively influence adolescent depressive symptoms. The findings are expected to inform evidence-based intervention strategies. Methods This cross-sectional study employed stratified sampling to select 5,865students from 12 secondary schools in Chengdu, China, between March and May 2022. Participants were assessed using the following validated instruments: the Short-form Egna Minnen av Barndoms Uppfostran (s-EMBU) for parental rearing styles, the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form (CTQ-SF), the Adolescent Learning Burnout Scale, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) for depressive symptoms, the Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS), and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC). A partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach was employed to construct a predictive framework examining the complex network of pathways through which negative parenting styles, childhood trauma, learning burnout, psychological resilience, and social support collectively influence depressive symptoms in adolescents. Results The PHQ-9 scores demonstrated significant positive correlations with the s-EMBU overprotective subscale (r=0.272, P<0.01), rejecting subscale (r=0.368, P<0.01), CTQ-SF scores (r=0.288, P<0.01), and academic burnout (r=0.587, P<0.01). Conversely, significant negative correlations were observed between PHQ-9 scores and both SSRS (r=-0.532, P<0.01) and CD-RISC scores (r=-0.418, P<0.01). Negative parenting styles (β=0.113, 95% CI: 0.087-0.138) and academic burnout (β=0.339, 95% CI: 0.315-0.364) emerged as significant positive predictors of depressive symptoms, with childhood trauma mediating the relationship between negative parenting and depressive symptoms, effect value was 0.018 (95% CI: 0.013~0.024). Furthermore, social support was found to mediate multiple relationships: the association between negative parenting and depressive symptoms (β=0.080, 95% CI: 0.069~0.092), the link between negative parenting and childhood trauma (β=0.041, 95% CI: 0.032~0.050), the relationship between academic burnout and depressive symptoms (β=0.092, 95% CI: 0.081~0.104, and the connection between academic burnout and childhood trauma (β=0.048, 95% CI: 0.037~0.058). Additionally, psychological resilience served as a mediating pathway between negative parenting styles and depressive symptoms (β=0.004, 95% CI: 0.002~0.007), between academic burnout and depressive symptoms (β=0.037, 95% CI: 0.023–0.052), and between childhood trauma and depressive symptoms (β=0.003, 95% CI: 0.001–0.006). Conclusion Academic burnout exerted a direct effect on adolescent depressive symptoms. Negative parenting styles influenced depressive symptoms both directly and indirectly through childhood trauma. Furthermore, social support and psychological resilience mediated the relationships between negative parenting styles, academic burnout, and depressive symptoms. |