{
  "abstract": "Background\n\nThe mental health of adolescents is a critical global public health priority. This large-scale, cross-sectional study investigated the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress, along with their key associated risk factors, among school-attending adolescents in South China.Methods\n\nAn online anonymous survey utilizing the validated Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21) and the Mental Health Test (MHT) was administered to 23,856 students (mean age = 13.57 ± 1.94 years) from primary, middle, and high schools.Results\n\nThe results revealed concerning prevalence rates of mild-to-extreme symptoms: 27.9% for anxiety, 25.15% for depression, and 7.63% for stress. Severe study pressure (reported by 52%), loneliness (59%), and poor social relationships (50%) were identified as the predominant risk factors, with multivariate logistic regression confirming their significant associations with worse mental health outcomes (ORs ranging from 1.74 to 1.95).Conclusions\n\nThis large-scale study quantifies high anxiety and depression prevalence among South Chinese adolescents, identifying study pressure, loneliness, social difficulties, and self-harm as key modifiable risk factors. This study calls for school-based mental health interventions and provides timely empirical evidence to promote student well-being.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "College of Medicine, Jiaxing University, Jiaxing, 314041, China. feifei.wang@zjxu.edu.cn.",
    "No. 2 Experimental Primary School, Ninghua County, Sanming City, 365499, Fujian Province, China.",
    "Department of Health, Human Function, and Rehabilitation Sciences, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, 20052, USA.",
    "Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.",
    "College of Education, Capital Normal University, Beijing, 100048, China."
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 9,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Feifei Wang",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-7781-8722"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Lili Zhang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Xinyu Xiang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Andor Bodnár"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Rishi Pednekar"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Ruth Cortright"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Isabella Overby"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Jaspal Mahal"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Mengqi Zhang"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/37xfq7qrtwdf0.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1007/s44192-026-00557-7",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13680329",
  "id": "37xfq7qrtwdf0",
  "issns": [
    "2731-4383"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42897339",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "lcc",
      "RC321-571"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "3203|Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7170158810",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13680329?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13680329",
  "pmid": "42897339",
  "published": "2026-07-01",
  "publisher": "Springer",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/37xfq7qrtwdf0.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:19:42Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42897339",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42897339"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T13:45:35Z",
      "native_id": "90edc3f3cc7648e88c22e45bd550748a",
      "source": "doaj",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1007/s44192-026-00557-7"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:3203|Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development",
      "subfield": "psychiatry"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Prevalence and risk factors of mental disorders in a cross-sectional study of adolescents in South China.",
  "title_text": "Prevalence and risk factors of mental disorders in a cross-sectional study of adolescents in South China.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T13:45:35Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/37xfq7qrtwdf0",
  "venue": "Discover mental health",
  "versions": []
}