Dataset Information

Bridging Anxiety and Depression: A Network Approach in Anxious Adolescents.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The phenomenology and neurobiology of depressive symptoms in anxious youth is poorly understood.

Methods

Association networks of anxiety and depressive symptoms were developed in adolescents with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD; N=52, mean age: 15.4±1.6 years) who had not yet developed major depressive disorder. Community analyses were used to create consensus clusters of depressive and anxiety symptoms and to identify "bridge" symptoms between the clusters. In a subset of this sample (n=39), correlations between cortical thickness and depressive symptom severity was examined.

Results

Ten symptoms clustered into an anxious community, 5 clustered into a depressive community and 5 bridged the two communities: impaired schoolwork, excessive weeping, low self-esteem, disturbed appetite, and physical symptoms of depression. Patients with more depressive cluster burden had altered cortical thickness in prefrontal, inferior and medial parietal (e.g., precuneus, supramarginal) regions and had decreases in cortical thickness-age relationships in prefrontal, temporal and parietal cortices.

Limitations

Data are cross-sectional and observational. Limited sample size precluded secondary analysis of comorbidities and demographics.

Conclusions

In youth with GAD, a sub-set of symptoms not directly related to anxiety bridge anxiety and depression. Youth with greater depressive cluster burden had altered cortical thickness in cortical structures within the default mode and central executive networks. These alternations in cortical thickness may represent a distinct neurostructural fingerprint in anxious youth with early depressive symptoms. Finally, youth with GAD and high depressive symptoms had reduced age-cortical thickness correlations. The emergence of depressive symptoms in early GAD and cortical development may have bidirectional, neurobiological relationships.

SUBMITTER: Dobson ET

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7744436 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BackgroundAnxiety and depression often co-occur during adolescence, but the associations between symptoms of these two disorders in this developmental period are not yet fully understood. Network analysis provides a valuable approach to uncover meaningful associations among symptoms and offers insights for prevention and intervention strategies. This study aimed to investigate symptom-level associations between anxiety and depression using network analysis and to identify core symptoms, bridge symptoms, and differences in network structure across different stages of adolescence.MethodsThe cross-sectional study was conducted in March 2022 in Shenzhen, China. Participants completed the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale-7 and Patient Health Questionnaire Depression Scale, along with demographic questionnaires assessing age and gender. Chinese adolescents aged 10 to 17 who were in Grades 5 or 6 of elementary school, Grades 1 or 2 of middle school, or Grades 1 or 2 of high school, and who could comprehensively understand and read Chinese were recruited as participants. Students in Grade 3 of middle and high schools were excluded due to their upcoming high school or college entrance examinations. Based on age, participants were categorized into early, middle, and late developmental stages of adolescence.Results"Loss of control" was among the most central symptoms in the comorbidity network throughout all three developmental stages; "excessive worry" and "anhedonia" emerged as the core symptoms in early adolescence, and "restlessness" as the core symptom in late adolescence. "Anhedonia," "sad mood," and "fatigue" were identified as bridge symptoms between anxiety and depression across all three developmental stages of adolescence. The global strength of the network in middle adolescence was significantly higher compared to the other two stages.ConclusionThese findings highlight the core and bridge symptoms that require special attention and intervention at each stage of adolescence. Moreover, significantly higher network connectivity in middle adolescence suggests this is a critical period for intervention to prevent the development of comorbid mental disorders.