Feng Tingwei, Ren Lei, Zhang Guimin, Hou Yanqin, Wang Buyao, Wu Lin, Mi Mingdi, Wang Hui, Wang Xiuchao, Huang Daqing, Liu Xufeng
Department of Military Medical Psychology, Air Force Medical University, Xi'an, 710032, China.
Military Psychology Section, Logistics University of PAP, Tianjin, 300309, China.
BMC Psychiatry. 2025 Sep 1;25(1):842. doi: 10.1186/s12888-025-07215-2.
Recent research suggests that focusing on specific symptoms, rather than general levels of impairment, may offer a more nuanced understanding of psychopathology. Given the unique social and psychological challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, this study aims to explore the relationships between the three dimensions of perceived social support family support, friend support, and other support-and individual anxiety symptoms among college students. The pandemic context provides an opportunity to examine how different forms of social support may influence specific anxiety symptoms in a time of heightened stress and restricted social interactions.
We conducted a network analysis of anxiety symptoms and perceived social support in a sample of 4105 college students. The network structures and bridge effects between social support and anxiety symptoms were examined at two time points (T1 and T2). A network comparison test (NCT) was conducted to assess differences in the network structures and bridge centrality indices across the two time points.
In this sample, perceived social support was significantly associated with anxiety symptoms. Bridge centrality analysis indicated that, across both networks, family support generally correlated with lower levels of certain anxiety symptoms, serving as a protective factor. In contrast, friend support showed a mixed pattern-positively associated with some symptoms (e.g., irritability) but negatively associated with others (e.g., uncontrollable worry). These findings suggest that different forms of social support may have distinct effects on specific anxiety symptoms.
Network analysis revealed that family support consistently served as a key protective factor against anxiety symptoms, while the influence of friend and other support weakened over time. These findings highlight the dynamic nature of support systems and provide implications for tailored mental health interventions in college students during and after the pandemic.
近期研究表明，关注特定症状而非整体损害水平，可能会对精神病理学有更细致入微的理解。鉴于新冠疫情带来的独特社会和心理挑战，本研究旨在探讨大学生感知到的社会支持的三个维度（家庭支持、朋友支持和其他支持）与个体焦虑症状之间的关系。疫情背景提供了一个机会，来考察在压力加剧和社交互动受限时期，不同形式的社会支持可能如何影响特定的焦虑症状。
我们对4105名大学生样本中的焦虑症状和感知到的社会支持进行了网络分析。在两个时间点（T1和T2）考察了社会支持与焦虑症状之间的网络结构和桥梁效应。进行了网络比较测试（NCT），以评估两个时间点之间网络结构和桥梁中心性指标的差异。
在这个样本中，感知到的社会支持与焦虑症状显著相关。桥梁中心性分析表明，在两个网络中，家庭支持通常与某些焦虑症状的较低水平相关，起到保护因素的作用。相比之下，朋友支持呈现出混合模式——与一些症状（如易怒）呈正相关，但与其他症状（如无法控制的担忧）呈负相关。这些发现表明，不同形式的社会支持可能对特定焦虑症状有不同的影响。
网络分析显示，家庭支持一直是预防焦虑症状的关键保护因素，而朋友支持和其他支持的影响随时间减弱。这些发现突出了支持系统的动态性质，并为疫情期间及之后针对大学生的心理健康干预措施提供了启示。
