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©The Author(s) 2026. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Psychiatry. Feb 19, 2026; 16(2): 112996
Published online Feb 19, 2026. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v16.i2.112996
Published online Feb 19, 2026. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v16.i2.112996
Prevalence, severity, and risk factors for depressive and anxiety symptoms among adolescents: A cross-sectional study
Hai-Dong Yang, Jing Zhang, Man Yang, Ling-Shu Luan, Department of Psychiatry, The Fourth People’s Hospital of Lianyungang, The Affiliated Kangda College of Nanjing Medical University, Lianyungang 222003, Jiangsu Province, China
Hai-Dong Yang, Xiao-Bin Zhang, Department of Psychiatry, Suzhou Psychiatric Hospital, The Affiliated Guangji Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215137, Jiangsu Province, China
Jing Zhang, Medical College of Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225003, Jiangsu Province, China
Jun-Jie Liu, Science and Education Section, The Fourth People’s Hospital of Lianyungang, The Affiliated Kangda College of Nanjing Medical University, Lianyungang 222003, Jiangsu Province, China
Co-first authors: Hai-Dong Yang and Jing Zhang.
Co-corresponding authors: Jun-Jie Liu and Xiao-Bin Zhang.
Author contributions: Yang HD and Zhang J wrote the manuscript, they contributed equally to this article, they are the co-first authors of this manuscript; Yang HD and Zhang XB performed the statistical analysis; Zhang J, Yang M, and Luan LS were responsible for collecting the data; Liu JJ maintaining the online survey platform; Liu JJ and Zhang XB were responsible for study design, they contributed equally to this article, they are the co-corresponding authors of this manuscript; and all authors have contributed to and have approved the final manuscript.
Supported by the Suzhou Clinical Medical Center for Mood Disorders, No. Szlcyxzx202109; Suzhou Key Laboratory, No. SZS2024016; Multicenter Clinical Research on Major Diseases in Suzhou, No. DZXYJ202413; and General Program of Lianyungang Health Committee, No. 202336.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of the Fourth People’s Hospital of Lianyungang, approval No. 2023 LSYYXLL-P21.
Informed consent statement: Informed consent was obtained from all participants or, if participants are under 16 years old, from a parent and/or legal guardian.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Xiao-Bin Zhang, Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Suzhou Psychiatric Hospital, The Affiliated Guangji Hospital of Soochow University, No. 11 Guang
Received: August 12, 2025
Revised: August 20, 2025
Accepted: October 21, 2025
Published online: February 19, 2026
Processing time: 171 Days and 16.5 Hours
Revised: August 20, 2025
Accepted: October 21, 2025
Published online: February 19, 2026
Processing time: 171 Days and 16.5 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This large-scale cross-sectional study of 22925 Chinese adolescents reveals concerning rates of depression (16.0%) and anxiety (24.1%) symptoms, with approximately 10% reporting moderate to severe symptoms. The study uniquely identifies functional constipation as a significant risk factor for both conditions, potentially reflecting brain-gut axis dysfunction. Female sex, smoking, parental conflict, lower household income, reduced physical activity, and excessive electronic device use were also identified as risk factors, while social support emerged as protective. These findings underscore the urgent need for comprehensive screening and targeted interventions addressing modifiable risk factors to improve adolescent mental health outcomes.