Gender-specific temporal dynamics of depressive symptoms and emotional resilience in adolescents: a cross-lagged network and simulation-based intervention study
AI Summary
Gender-specific dynamics: males show cognitive-evaluative symptom propagation, females show emotion-driven interpersonal sensitivity driving depressive symptom trajectories.
Distinct central symptoms: males: sadness (autoregressive), self-deprecation (out influence), feeling misunderstood (in influence); females: feeling unloved, sadness, upset after criticism.
Simulation: boosting positive emotion generation reduced symptoms, whereas sleep and interpersonal dysregulation increased network activation; suggest targeted gender-sensitive interventions on positive emotion and interpersonal recovery.
Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health. 2026 Jul 17. doi: 10.1186/s13034-026-01138-w. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Adolescent depression involves dynamic interactions between depressive symptoms and emotional resilience, with potential gender differences.
METHODS: A total of 818 adolescents completed the CDI-S and AERQ at two time points. Cross-lagged panel networks were estimated separately for males and females, and node centrality was assessed using in- and out-expected influence indices. Simulation-based interventions identified nodes with the greatest impact on overall symptom activation.
RESULTS: In males, sadness showed the largest autoregressive effect, self-deprecation showed the highest out-expected influence, and feeling upset when misunderstood showed the highest in-expected influence. In females, feeling unloved showed the largest autoregressive effect, sadness showed the highest out-expected influence, and feeling upset after criticism the highest in-expected influence. Simulation results indicated that enhancing positive emotion generation alleviated symptoms, whereas sleep- and interpersonal-related dysregulation increased network activation.
CONCLUSIONS: Emotional resilience-depression dynamics differed by gender, with males showing cognitive-evaluative propagation and females emotion-driven interpersonal sensitivity. Targeted, gender-sensitive interventions focused on positive emotion generation and interpersonal recovery may help reduce depressive symptoms in adolescents.
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