The Mediating Role of Loneliness Between Social Support and Depressive Symptoms Among Chinese Rural Adolescents During COVID-19 Outbreak: A Comparative Study Between Left-Behind and Non-left-behind Students

• Main Authors: Tianya Hou, Yawei Xie, Xiaofei Mao, Ying Liu, Jianguo Zhang, Jing Wen, Yan Chen, Zhechao Luo, Wenpeng Cai
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-08-01
• Series: Frontiers in Psychiatry
• Subjects: depression; perceived social support; loneliness; left-behind students; non-left-behind students; COVID-19
• Online Access: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.740094/full

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted people's life across the globe. In a public health crisis, rural adolescents are more prone to mental health problems. The current study aimed to investigate the prevalence of depressive symptoms among Chinese rural adolescents during the COVID-19 outbreak, and examine the association between perceived social support and depressive symptoms and its underlying mechanisms.Method: Perceived Social Support Scale, UCLA Loneliness Scale, Patient Health Questionnaire-9 were administrated to 826 rural adolescents from Anhui Province, China, amid the COVID-19 crisis. Mackinnon's four-step procedure was employed to examine the mediating effect, while Hayes PROCESS macro was utilized to test the moderated mediation model.Results: The results showed the rate of depressive symptoms among rural adolescents in China was 77.6% during the outbreak of COVID-19. Female left-behind students and non-left-behind students from disrupted families experienced more depressive symptoms (all P < 0.05). Loneliness mediated the association between perceive social support and depressive symptoms and the indirect effect was stronger in left-behind adolescents in comparison to non-left-behind adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic.Conclusion: Depressive symptoms are extremely prevalent among Chinese rural adolescents during the COVID-19 outbreak, and perceived social support plays a protective role against depressive symptoms. Chinese rural adolescents, especially left-behind students, could benefit from the interventions aimed at enhancing the perceived social support and reducing loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic.