He Yunhan, Yang Danli, Liang Kaixin, Zhang Yunjia, Zhang Hongchuan, Chi Xinli
School of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China.
The Shenzhen Humanities and Social Sciences Key Research Bases of the Center for Mental Health, Shenzhen, China.
Front Psychol. 2025 Aug 11;16:1572011. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1572011. eCollection 2025.
Depression and anxiety, prevalent among adolescents, show higher rates in females than males. However, little is known about symptom-level interactions and gender-specific network characteristics in secondary vocational students. This study adopted network analysis, including Gaussian graph models and directed acyclic graphs, to explore symptom-level relationships between depression and anxiety in secondary vocational students, identifying bridge and core symptoms, potential causation, and gender-specific network characteristics. Involving 7,471 students in a cross-sectional study, we utilized the Patient Health Questionnaire 8-item (PHQ-8) and Generalized Anxiety Disorders 7-item (GAD-7) for symptom measurement. Key findings include: bridge symptom was "sad mood (PHQ2)." Core symptoms were "fatigue (PHQ4)," "loss of control (GAD2)," "trouble relaxing (GAD4)," "sad mood (PHQ2)," "irritability (GAD6)," "excessive worry (GAD3)," and "feeling guilty (PHQ6)." There were numerous cross-disorder links between anxiety and depressive symptoms, predominantly from anxiety symptoms to depressive symptoms. "Irritability (GAD6)" was the initial symptom in the directed network. Females showed higher prevalence of depression and anxiety, and network global strength. This study firstly highlights the complex interplay between depressive and anxiety symptoms in secondary vocational students, with notable gender differences. The insights offer valuable guidance for developing targeted interventions and support strategies for this group.
抑郁症和焦虑症在青少年中普遍存在，女性的发病率高于男性。然而，对于中等职业学校学生症状层面的相互作用和性别特异性网络特征，我们知之甚少。本研究采用网络分析方法，包括高斯图模型和有向无环图，以探讨中等职业学校学生抑郁与焦虑症状层面的关系，识别桥梁症状和核心症状、潜在因果关系以及性别特异性网络特征。在一项横断面研究中纳入了7471名学生，我们使用患者健康问卷8项版（PHQ-8）和广泛性焦虑障碍7项版（GAD-7）进行症状测量。主要发现包括：桥梁症状为“情绪低落（PHQ2）”。核心症状为“疲劳（PHQ4）”、“失控感（GAD2）”、“难以放松（GAD4）”、“情绪低落（PHQ2）”、“易怒（GAD6）”、“过度担忧（GAD3）”和“感到内疚（PHQ6）”。焦虑症状和抑郁症状之间存在许多跨障碍联系，主要是从焦虑症状到抑郁症状。“易怒（GAD6）”是有向网络中的初始症状。女性的抑郁和焦虑患病率以及网络全局强度更高。本研究首次突出了中等职业学校学生抑郁和焦虑症状之间的复杂相互作用，且存在显著的性别差异。这些见解为针对该群体制定有针对性的干预措施和支持策略提供了有价值的指导。
