Zhongyan Su , Xiaoman Yang , Jinqin Hou , Shaoran Liu , Yaxin Wang , Zhiyan Chen
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Gender differences have been identified in the co-occurrence of anxiety and depressive symptoms. However, the underlying mechanisms that give rise to this gender difference remain unclear, and few studies have examined the issue at the symptom level. The current study employed the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7) and the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) to assess anxiety and depressive symptoms in a national sample of early adolescents (N = 15 391). A network approach was applied to investigate the gender differences in symptom interconnectivity. Gender differences were found in the co-occurrence of anxiety and depressive symptoms. The results indicated that girls with higher global strength (p < 0.01) exhibited stronger interconnectivity between symptoms. Central symptom PHQ2 (Sad mood) was significantly stronger in girls (p < 0.01), whereas PHQ6 (Guilt) was stronger in boys (p < 0.05). GAD7 (Feeling afraid) was identified as a prominent bridge symptom in girls, while PHQ6 (Guilt) was observed to play a similar role in boys. The directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) demonstrated that one symptom of anxiety triggered a series of emotional symptoms of anxiety and depression, ultimately resulting in a depressive somatic symptom in girls, whereas leading to both depressive somatic and anxiety symptoms in boys. These findings enhance our understanding and provide insights into potential intervention targets to prevent the co-occurrence of anxiety and depressive symptoms at an early stage.
期刊介绍:
Founded in 1961 to report on the latest work in psychiatry and cognate disciplines, the Journal of Psychiatric Research is dedicated to innovative and timely studies of four important areas of research:
(1) clinical studies of all disciplines relating to psychiatric illness, as well as normal human behaviour, including biochemical, physiological, genetic, environmental, social, psychological and epidemiological factors;
(2) basic studies pertaining to psychiatry in such fields as neuropsychopharmacology, neuroendocrinology, electrophysiology, genetics, experimental psychology and epidemiology;
(3) the growing application of clinical laboratory techniques in psychiatry, including imagery and spectroscopy of the brain, molecular biology and computer sciences;