Xiaojun Xu1,#, Hui Lu2,#, Mengni Du3, Yang Wang1,4, Mingyan Liu2, Lei Qian1,5, Chunyan Shan1, Jianan Xu6, Yanqiu Yu7, Guohua Zhang4, Anise M. S. Wu8,9, Joseph T. F. Lau1,4,10,*, Deborah Baofeng Wang1,*
International Journal of Mental Health Promotion, Vol.27, No.10, pp. 1423-1437, 2025, DOI:10.32604/ijmhp.2025.068840
- 31 October 2025
Abstract Background: Adolescent depression and school refusal (SR) are prevalent and important global concerns that need to be understood and addressed. Cross-sectional associations have been reported but prospective relationships between them remain unclear. This longitudinal study investigated the bidirectional relationships between these two problems among Chinese adolescents. Methods: A longitudinal study was conducted in Taizhou, China, surveying students of three junior high schools, three senior high schools, and one vocational high school. A total of 3882 students completed the questionnaire at baseline (T1); 3167 of them completed an identical follow-up questionnaire after 6 months (T2). Depression… More >