Associations Between Chinese College Students' Anxiety and Depression: A Chain Mediation Analysis

Overview

Journal PLoS One

Specialties General Medicine
Science

Date 2022 Jun 2

PMID 35653383

Authors

Li-Ying Wen

Liu-Xia Shi

Li-Jun Zhu

Meng-Jie Zhou

Long Hua

Yue-Long Jin

Wei-Wei Chang

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Objective: Anxiety and depression are great public health concerns among college students. The purpose of this study was to explore whether sleep quality and quality of life (QoL) play mediating roles in anxiety and depression among Chinese college students.

Method: A total of 2757 college students (mean age = 19.07; SD = 1.14) completed the questionnaires, including a brief demographic survey. The 2-item General Anxiety Disorder (GAD-2) and the 2-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-2) were used to assess the symptoms of anxiety and depression, respectively. And the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and the Short-Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36) were used to evaluate college students' sleep quality and QoL, respectively. Mediation analyses were conducted by using PROCESS macro in the SPSS software.

Result: Anxiety had both direct and indirect effects on depression. Sleep quality and QoL were not only independent mediators in the relationship between anxiety and depression but also chain mediators.

Conclusion: The results of the current study highlight the crucial role of early intervention for depression with a focus on college students with anxiety, more especially, on those with poorer sleep quality and lower QoL.

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