Abstract
BackgroundDepressive and anxiety symptoms are widespread among adolescents today, creating a large social problem. However, few previous studies have addressed depression and anxiety among adolescents in Chinese cohorts. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of and risk factors for depressive and anxiety symptoms among Chinese middle school adolescent students in the post-COVID-19 era.MethodsA total of 22,380 middle school students from Jiangsu Province were surveyed online, and their general demographic data were collected. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) was used to assess depressive symptoms, and the seven-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) scale was used to measure anxiety symptoms.ResultsOf these participants (aged 12–17 years), 25.6% had depressive symptoms, 26.9% had anxiety symptoms, and 20.6% had a combination of depression and anxiety symptoms. The prevalence of depressive symptoms was higher in female adolescents (27.6%) than in male adolescents (23.7%; χ2 = 45.479, P = 0.000), and the proportion with anxiety symptoms was higher among female adolescents (28.6%) than among male adolescents (25.4%; χ2 = 29.390, P = 0.000). Furthermore, binary logistic regression analysis showed that gender, region, and parental relationship were significantly associated with depressive symptoms among adolescents, while age, gender, region, and parental relationship were significantly associated with anxiety symptoms.ConclusionsOur findings demonstrated that the prevalence of reported depressive and anxiety symptoms in Chinese adolescents are high. Female gender, urban region, and poor parental relationship may be risk factors for depressive and anxiety symptoms. Furthermore, policy makers, schools, and families need to pay more attention to the psychological health of adolescents, develop response plans and take early intervention measures to reduce the prevalence of adolescent depression and anxiety.
Highlights
Depressive and anxiety symptoms are widespread among adolescents today, creating a large social problem
The prevalence of reported depressive symptoms among adolescents was significantly higher in urban regions than in rural regions (27.2% versus 24.9%, χ2 = 12.849, P = 0.000), and anxiety symptoms were more prevalent in urban areas than in rural areas (28.5% versus 26.2%, χ2 = 11.881, P = 0.001)
Zhou et al reported that psychological health problems were prominent among Chinese adolescents during the COVID-19 epidemic; 43.7%, 37.4%, and 31.3% of middle school students aged 12–18 years suffered from depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and depression combined with anxiety symptoms, respectively [18]
Summary
Depressive and anxiety symptoms are widespread among adolescents today, creating a large social problem. In 2019, a study found that the percentages of global disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) attributable to depressive disorders and anxiety disorders were ranked the 13th and 24th leading causes of disability, respectively, from the teenage years through old age in 2019, whereas the percentage of DALYs among adolescents aged 10–24 rose to fourth and sixth leading causes [3]. The prevalence of both depressive and anxiety disorders have been on the rise in recent years because of rapid social and economic development, unhealthy lifestyles including smoking, frequent drinking, physical inactivity, sleep deprivation, low fruit consumption, and psychological stress responses [4]. Depression and anxiety have been more prevalent among adults and adolescents during the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic [5, 6]
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