Heterogeneous profiles of virtue personality trait in anxiety-depression symptom networks and simulated intervention effects: evidence from a large college student sample

BACKGROUND: Anxiety and depression frequently co-occur among college students, yet their symptom-level connections may vary across person-level characteristics. Virtue personality traits, including altruism, tolerance, conscientiousness, and benevolence, reflect morally valued positive qualities in the Chinese context and may be related to anxiety-depression comorbidity. However, it remains unclear whether heterogeneity in these traits is associated with differences in anxiety-depression symptom networks and potential intervention effects. METHODS: = 5,571 [60.49%]) were recruited, and their virtue personality traits, as well as depressive and anxiety symptoms, were measured using the Chinese Virtue Personality Scale (CVPS), the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale. Latent profile analysis (LPA) was used to identify latent virtue personality profiles. Network analysis was used to identify bridge symptoms that link comorbidity of depressive and anxiety symptoms, and computer-simulated interventions (i.e., alleviating vs. aggravating) were performed to evaluate whether targeting bridge symptoms can reduce or increase overall anxiety-depression comorbidity severity. Network stability and network comparison were also examined. RESULTS: LPA revealed three virtue personality profiles, comprising high, moderate, and low CVPS groups. Suicidal ideation emerged as a shared bridge symptom across all three groups. Motor was additionally identified as a bridge symptom in the high and moderate CVPS groups, whereas sad mood and uncontrollable worry were unique bridge symptoms in the high and low CVPS groups, respectively. In the simulated aggravating interventions, suicidal ideation emerged as a shared intervention target across all three groups, with change rates ranging from 165.36% to 293.49%. Overall, bridge symptoms were generally the most effective aggravating targets, whereas the most effective alleviating targets did not correspond to the bridge symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Virtue personality heterogeneity was reflected more in anxiety-depression symptom severity and comorbidity prevalence than in network structure. Bridge symptoms showed the strongest effects in aggravating simulations, whereas the most effective alleviating targets did not overlap with bridge symptoms. These findings may help identify high-risk symptoms and inform targeted prevention strategies for anxiety-depression comorbidity among college students.