The development of anxiety and depression in Chinese high school students and associated factors: a latent transition analysis

This study examined the characteristics, developmental trajectories, and associated factors of adolescent anxiety and depression using a longitudinal design. A total of 736 high school students in Gansu Province, China, were followed across a two-month interval. Latent transition analysis (LTA) was used to identify changes in latent symptom profiles over time, and multinomial logistic regression analyses examined associations of internal (neuroticism) and external (negative life events) factors with subgroup membership and transitions.Three distinct latent classes were identified: a low-depression group, a low-symptom group, and a comorbid group. LTA quantified transition probabilities between these classes from Time 1 to Time 2. Overall, class membership showed high stability, although both symptom progression (e.g., transitions from the low-depression group to the low-symptom group) and symptom recovery (e.g., transitions from the comorbid group to lower-symptom groups) were observed.Further analyses indicated that neuroticism and negative life events correlated with baseline subgroup classification, with negative life events additionally related to transitions between groups. Gender had no significant effect on the occurrence and development of short-term anxiety and depression. These findings highlight the heterogeneity and dynamic nature of adolescent anxiety and depression and underscore the role of contextual stressors in short-term symptom development.