TPC Journal-Vol 10- Issue 2-FULL ISSUE

The Professional Counselor | Volume 10, Issue 2 291 stated they were satisfied with their responses in the first interview. In addition to offering member checking, the first author used rich data, prolonged engagement, respondent validation, a search for discrepant data, and peer review to ensure trustworthiness. A peer review of the method was conducted by doctoral-level professors in human services who specialized in qualitative research in order to enhance internal validity (Lincoln & Guba, 1985; Merriam, 2009). The first author used an audit trail by engaging in memo-writing to express thoughts, perspectives, observations, and reactions to interviews, transcriptions, and coding. An audit trail is a strategy in which a researcher explains as best as possible how they arrived at the results of the study by documenting how the data were collected, how categories were developed, and how findings were interpreted throughout the study (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). An audit trail thus improves the quality of a study. The information and details from this study may be generalizable to other groups and may contribute to the knowledge base of best practices when working with this population in counseling. Results Through data analysis, the researcher identified five significant thematic categories: (a) definitions of depression, (b) seeking treatment, (c) coping and problem-solving strategies, (d) types of emotional support, and (e) contributing factors to depression. These five thematic categories were broken down into their constituent contents. Each thematic category was addressed with the invariant constituents that make up that category, including elaboration on any significant constituent patterns (such as high and low frequency of occurrence). Quotations from the participants are included in the text as examples to elucidate the invariant constituents and thematic categories. For reasons of confidentiality, some identifying information was excluded. All participants identified as Black and lived in the rural southeastern United States. At the time of the study, the participants were living in a southeastern U.S. community in one of the lowest socioeconomic brackets of the country. In the participants’ community, the majority of the population was Black and participated in the school’s free or reduced-fee lunch program. Because of the homogeneous nature of the community, the participants did not speak of any adverse social or political circumstances, and the researcher avoided broaching the topic in an effort to do no harm. The researcher believed that overlooking the social and political climate of the community increased the trustworthiness of the participants’ responses, as the participants were not influenced by the discussion of the climate nor did they voluntarily express its relevance to their experience. As a Black adult, the researcher, who is first author, was aware of how the social and political climate played into their experience. However, because the participants were adolescents experiencing emotional pain, the first researcher attempted to instill hope in them as part of their experiences of this study. To maintain confidentiality, specific details about the contextual factors in the participants’ community have been omitted. Definitions of Depression Data analysis identified 18 codes that were relevant to the category regarding how participants defined depression. Of these codes, three emerged with significantly higher prevalence than the others: (a) sadness ; (b) isolation, social withdrawal, or loneliness ; and (c) permanent or persistent . Nine out of the 10 participants (90%) indicated that they experienced the feelings associated with these three codes. For example, in response to how he defined depression, Participant 5 noted that he became “ sad, mad, and very frustrated.” Participant 1 defined depression in terms of social withdrawal, saying, “Usually I stay in my room and I don ’t talk to anybody, I just stay in there, and that is about it.” Participant 4 provided an example of the theme of permanent or persistent experiences by stating, “ I don ’t think it could just