School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.
Shanghai Changning Mental Health Center, Shanghai, China.
J Youth Adolesc. 2022 May;51(5):904-914. doi: 10.1007/s10964-022-01595-4. Epub 2022 Mar 14.
Preferring to spend time alone (for any reason) has been empirically linked to symptoms of internalizing problems among Chinese children and early adolescents. However, little is known about the implications of affinity for solitude (i.e., an enjoyment of solitude) in China. Moreover, it remains unclear how affinity for solitude and depressive symptoms development simultaneously in early adolescence. To address these gaps, this study examined the longitudinal and parallel associations between affinity for solitude and depressive symptoms among Chinese early adolescents. Participants were 853 adolescents (48.4% female; M = 14.65 years, SD = 0.54) from mainland China followed over three years from Grade 7 to Grade 9. Assessments of affinity for solitude and depressive symptoms were obtained each year via adolescent self-reports. Among the findings, results from parallel latent growth modeling suggested that higher initial levels of affinity for solitude in Grade7 negatively predicted the slope of adolescents' depressive symptoms. This indicates that higher levels of affinity for solitude in Grade 7 predicted a slower increase in adolescents' depressive symptoms levels over three years. Implications are discussed that consider the adaptive mechanism of affinity for solitude among Chinese adolescents in the development of depressive symptoms.
（由于任何原因）喜欢独处的倾向已被实证研究与中国儿童和青少年的内化问题症状联系起来。然而，对于在中国独处的偏好（即享受独处）意味着什么，人们知之甚少。此外，尚不清楚在青少年早期，独处的偏好和抑郁症状的发展是如何同时发生的。为了解决这些差距，本研究考察了中国青少年早期独处的偏好和抑郁症状之间的纵向和并行关联。参与者是来自中国大陆的 853 名青少年（48.4%为女性；M=14.65 岁，SD=0.54），他们在 7 年级到 9 年级期间被跟踪了三年。通过青少年自我报告，每年都会对独处的偏好和抑郁症状进行评估。研究结果表明，从平行潜增长模型得出的结果表明，7 年级时较高的初始独处偏好水平负向预测了青少年抑郁症状的斜率。这表明，7 年级时较高的独处偏好水平预示着青少年在三年内抑郁症状水平的增加速度较慢。讨论了考虑中国青少年在抑郁症状发展过程中独处偏好的适应机制的影响。
