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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Adolescent and Young Adult Psychiatry
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1520353
This article is part of the Research Topic Youth Mental Health, Particularly in Asian Populations View all 47 articles

Exploring the Relationship Between Mental Health Status and Life Events in Children and Adolescents: The Role of Mediating Factors

Provisionally accepted
Jiemei Xie Jiemei Xie 1,2Guoqiang Cheng Guoqiang Cheng 1Mingliang Zhou Mingliang Zhou 1Qisheng Liang Qisheng Liang 1Qianjin Wang Qianjin Wang 3,4*
  • 1 Department of Psychiatry, Zhaoqing Third People's Hospital, Guangdong, China, Guangdong, China
  • 2 Department of Psychiatry, Shantou University, Guangdong, China, Guangdong, China
  • 3 National Clinical Research Center for Mental and Mental Diseases, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
  • 4 Shandong Provincial Hospital, Jinan, Shandong Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The mental health status of children and adolescents is significantly influenced by negative life events, yet there is a lack of comprehensive analysis on mediating factors. This study aims to examine the relationship between negative life events and symptoms of anxiety and depression in children and adolescents, as well as to identify potential mediating factors.In May 2022, cluster random sampling was used to select 8041 primary, middle, and high school students in Zhaoqing City, Guangdong Province. The Adolescent Life Events Scale, Self-Rating Anxiety Scale, and Self-Rating Depression Scale were employed to assess negative life events, anxiety symptoms, and depression symptoms, respectively. Pearson correlation analysis and linear regression analysis were utilized to identify risk factors, and the Bootstrap method was applied for mediation analysis.The study revealed that 80.52% of children and adolescents experienced negative life events, with 23.38% reporting anxiety symptoms and 42.57% reporting depressive symptoms. Significant positive correlations were observed between negative life events and anxiety symptoms (r = 0.32, p < 0.001), as well as depressive symptoms (r = 0.44, p < 0.001). Mediation analysis further demonstrated that anxiety and depressive symptoms acted as mutual mediators in the relationship between negative life events and each other.Conclusions: This study underscores the complex interplay between anxiety, depression, and negative life events in children and adolescents. These findings can inform strategies to help mitigate the emotional impact of negative life events, enhance mental health, and provide a scientific basis for developing effective interventions.

    Keywords: Negative life events, depressive symptoms, Anxiety symptoms, Children and adolescents, Mediation analysis

    Received: 31 Oct 2024; Accepted: 15 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Xie, Cheng, Zhou, Liang and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Qianjin Wang, National Clinical Research Center for Mental and Mental Diseases, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China

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