BACKGROUND: Depression of adolescents seriously affects their mental health as well as the formation and development of sound personality. According to Family Systems Theory, individuals' mental health is closely related with external (e.g. domestic violence) and internal factor (e.g. self-evaluation). The formation mechanism of depression needs deep investigation in order to provide better educational intervention for students and promote their healthy development. AIM: The study examined the relationship among domestic violence, depression, and self-evaluation. METHODS: The data were collected from 1,011 Chinese adolescents ( RESULTS: We found domestic violence and depression were significantly positively correlated ( CONCLUSION: The level of depression of adolescents was closely related with domestic violence and self-evaluation. And self-evaluation played a mediating role between domestic violence and self-evaluation.