State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Assessment for Basic Education Quality, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
J Affect Disord. 2022 May 1;304:122-127. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2022.02.060. Epub 2022 Feb 24.
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way people live, affecting both their physical and mental health. Adolescents are vulnerable to the stress of the pandemic, and may experience indicators of psychological distress, such as depression. This study aimed to examine the impact of COVID-19-related stressors on depression and the mediating role of life history strategies.
A two-wave longitudinal study was conducted with 1123 adolescents (51.20% girls, M = 14.30) recruited from three junior high schools in the Northeastern province of China. Adolescents' life history strategies, depressive symptoms, and demographic variables were assessed at Time 1 (November 2019) and Time 2 (August 2020), and adolescents' experience of COVID-19-related stressors was assessed at Time 2. None of participants was infected by COVID-19 virus.
COVID-19-related stressors were positively associated with depressive symptoms at Time 2 (β = 0.08, p < 0.01), after controlling for gender, age, SES and depressive symptoms at Time 1. And life history strategies partially mediated the relation of pandemic stress to depression (indirect effect = 0.02, p < 0.05, 95% CI [0.004, 0.034]). There were no gender differences in the relations between stress on depression.
The sample was from a district where the pandemic was not very severe, which may limit generalizability of the results.
This study revealed that COVID-19-related stressors may have a long-term impact on adolescents, increasing depression through speeding up their life history strategies. Interventions should focus on life history strategies, particularly cognitive style, among adolescents during and after the pandemic.
新冠疫情改变了人们的生活方式，影响了他们的身心健康。青少年容易受到疫情压力的影响，可能会出现抑郁等心理健康问题的迹象。本研究旨在探讨与新冠疫情相关的应激源对抑郁的影响，以及生活史策略的中介作用。
采用两波纵向研究，从中国东北地区的三所初中招募了 1123 名青少年（51.20%为女生，M=14.30）。在第一次（2019 年 11 月）和第二次（2020 年 8 月）评估青少年的生活史策略、抑郁症状和人口统计学变量，在第二次评估青少年经历的与新冠疫情相关的应激源。所有参与者均未感染新冠病毒。
在控制了性别、年龄、SES 和第一次测量时的抑郁症状后，与新冠疫情相关的应激源与第二次测量时的抑郁症状呈正相关（β=0.08，p<0.01）。生活史策略部分中介了疫情应激与抑郁之间的关系（间接效应=0.02，p<0.05，95%CI[0.004, 0.034]）。应激与抑郁之间的关系在性别上没有差异。
样本来自疫情不太严重的地区，这可能限制了结果的普遍性。
本研究表明，与新冠疫情相关的应激源可能对青少年产生长期影响，通过加速他们的生活史策略增加抑郁。在疫情期间和之后，干预措施应重点关注青少年的生活史策略，特别是认知风格。
