Determinants of depression, problem behavior, and cognitive level of adolescents in China: Findings from a national, population-based cross-sectional study

Yusang Dong; Xinyu He; Lizhen Ye; Lidan Sun; Jiabin Li; Jingfang Xu; Yuechong Cui; Ziqiao Li; Lidan Hu; Guannan Bai

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1159739

Determinants of depression, problem behavior, and cognitive level of adolescents in China: Findings from a national, population-based cross-sectional study

Front Psychiatry. 2023 Apr 6:14:1159739. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1159739. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Yusang Dong^#¹, Xinyu He^#², Lizhen Ye³, Lidan Sun¹, Jiabin Li⁴, Jingfang Xu⁵, Yuechong Cui⁶, Ziqiao Li², Lidan Hu^#¹, Guannan Bai^#²

Affiliations

¹ Children's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
² Department of Child Health Care, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health, Children's Hospital, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
³ Department of Public Health, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands.
⁴ Department of Pharmacy, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health, Children's Hospital, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
⁵ Department of Orthopaedics, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health, Children's Hospital, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
⁶ Yiwu Maternity and Children Hospital, Yiwu Branch of Children's Hospital Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Yiwu, Zhejiang, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Introduction: We aimed to assess the associated factors for adolescent depression, problem behavior and cognitive level in China.

Methods: A total of 2,584 adolescents aged from 10 to 15 years old in 2018 were included for analyses. Information on a comprehensive set of potential determinants was collected by the questionnaire, including demographic, health-, school- and family-related factors. Differences in average scores of depression, problem behavior, and cognitive level across subgroups were assessed by two independent sample t-tests and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The clinical relevance among subgroups was assessed by the effect size. Multivariate linear regression models were applied to identify the statistically significant determinants.

Results: School-related factors and parental depressive status were strongly associated with depression. Low maternal education, poor/bad health of adolescents, high academic pressure, and parental depression were significantly associated with behavior problems. The socioeconomic factors, poor academic performance and father's depression were significantly associated with adolescent cognitive level.

Discussion: Multiple associated factors were identified for depression, problem behavior, and cognition of Chinese adolescents, which will provide insights into developing more targeted public health policies and interventions to improve their mental health.

Keywords: adolescent; cognitive development; cross-sectional study; depression; problem behavior.

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (K20210235; GB) and the starting research funding from Children’s Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health (GB). The funders had no role in the study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation of results, writing the manuscript, and the decision to submit the article for publication.