Abstract
Background Little is known about the prevalence of and risk factors for adolescent mental health problems during the COVID-19 outbreak. We aimed to investigate the prevalence of depressive symptoms, their association with study-relevant problems, and the moderating effect of parent-child relationship among Chinese adolescents during the school closures.Results Using data from 6435 adolescents, we found that the prevalence of depressive symptoms was 17.7%. All the study problem measures were associated with more severe depressive symptoms. There was a moderating effect of the parental relationship on the associations between study problems and depressive symptoms. The association between number of study problems and depressive symptoms was stronger in adolescents with a poor parent-child relationship (regression coefficient 4.34 [95% CI 2.97, 5.72]) than those with a good or normal relationship (2.55 [2.35, 2.75]), p for interaction 0.002, on multivariable adjustment.Conclusions Study problems due to school closures were particularly problematic for adolescents who had poor parent-child relationships. Public health initiatives could help students to adjust study habits and improve parent-child relationships, thereby protecting against the development of depression.
The Effect of Smartphone Dependency in Adolescents on Aggression - Moderating Effect of Parent-Child Positive Communication(TSL) -
