Symptom network differences in school adjustment and anxiety-depression-stress in adolescents: a gender-based perspective

Abstract

Objective To investigate the characteristics of adolescents’ school adjustment and their associations with anxiety, depression, and stress, respectively, as well as their differences by gender. Methods A convenience sampling method was used to measure 3,922 secondary school students from 10 secondary schools in five locations in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region using the Anxiety-Depression-Stress Scale and the School Adjustment Scale, and latent profile analysis was used to identify the subjects’ school adjustment categories, and network analysis was subsequently used to explore the relationship between different school adjustment categories and anxiety, depression, and stress, respectively, as well as their gender characteristics. Results In the symptom network of adolescents at risk for school maladjustment, “school emotions and attitudes” was the core symptom (Expected Impact Index: 0.86); in the co-morbidity network of school adjustment and anxiety, depression, and stress in adolescents at risk for school maladjustment, the core symptom was “uneasiness” (Expected Impact Index: 0.86); and “stress” (Expected Impact Index: 0.86) was the core symptom. “(EI: 1.12), “difficulty relaxing” (EI: 1.14) in males, and “depression” (EI: 1.06) in females, all with significant gender differences. Significant gender differences were found. Conclusion Adolescents’ school adjustment was strongly associated with symptoms of anxiety, depression and stress, with significant gender differences in the structure of the network of co-morbid symptoms.