Introduction:Lockdowns and online homeschooling during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic have significantly increased Internet use and adolescents' risk of developing or reinforcing related addictive behaviors. While various theoretical propositions have suggested that social support, resilience, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms can predict Internet addiction, no study has yet examined the combined influence of these factors on Internet addiction. This study therefore aimed to investigate the mediating roles of resilience and PTSD symptoms in the relationship between perceived social support and the Internet addiction of Chinese adolescents in the context of COVID-19. Methods: This study included 2544 adolescents living in the south China city of Qinzhou. The participants completed a self-report questionnaire one week before their return to classes after homeschooling. To examine whether resilience and PTSD symptoms mediated the relationship between social support and Internet addiction, we performed serial mediation analysis using the Model 6 PROCESS macro developed by Hayes (2013). Results: Social support was negatively and directly associated with Internet addiction and indirectly via resilience, PTSD symptoms, and by the multiple mediation of resilience to PTSD symptoms. Discussion: The results of this study suggest that, to address Internet addiction, it may be more effective to focus not on addictive behaviors themselves but on individuals' existing mental health. It is important to provide adequate social support to improve the resilience of adolescents, thereby reducing PTSD symptoms and Internet addiction.

Based on the development assets theory and the scar model, the present study examined the relationship between positive youth development (PYD) and depressive symptoms among Chinese early adolescents using a three-year longitudinal study design. Data from three waves were collected from 1301 students (Mean age = 12.46, SD = 0.63 years and 51.2% boys at wave 1) across the junior high school period (Grades 7–9). All participants completed a questionnaire that included the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and the Chinese Positive Youth Development Scale (CPYD) once a year over three years. After controlling for age and gender, this study found that PYD significantly predicted subsequent depressive symptoms. However, depressive symptoms did not significantly predict subsequent PYD. The results indicated a unidirectional relationship between PYD and depressive symptoms, where a reduction in PYD may increase subsequent depressive symptoms, though not vice versa. Besides, the negative cross-sectional correlation between PYD and depressive symptoms remains significant and stable from first year (T1) to third year (T3). These findings suggest that promoting PYD may be a promising approach to preventing/reducing adolescent depressive symptoms.

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This study aimed to investigate the impact of air pollution on the development of adolescents and the mediating role of students’ emotional disorders. Participants came from a longitudinal sample group of adolescents (n = 1301) in Southern China from the years 2016 to 2018. They were assessed for the Positive Youth Development and emotional disorders, and air pollution was measured by the Air Quality Index. The results show that students’ higher degree of exposure to air pollution was negatively associated with their positive development. Three out of four emotional disorders (i.e., anxiety, neuroticism, and withdrawal) mediate this association. The results suggest that the physical environment can have a paramount influence on the emotional status and overall development of adolescents, calling for intervention programs by policymakers.