Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39835663›Full record

ArticleJournal of adolescence2025

Academic Burden and Emotional Problems Among Adolescents: A Longitudinal Mediation Analysis.

Jingyi Wang, Ziyao Wang, Yuting Yang, Tingting Wang, Haijiang Lin, Wei Zhang, Xiaoxiao Chen, Chaowei Fu

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PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of adolescence, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
23citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

23 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Jingyi WangSchool of Public Health, NHC Key Laboratory of Health Technology Assessment, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Ziyao WangSchool of Public Health, NHC Key Laboratory of Health Technology Assessment, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.ORCID 0009-0001-9229-2850
Yuting YangSchool of Public Health, NHC Key Laboratory of Health Technology Assessment, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Tingting WangTaizhou City Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Taizhou, China.
Haijiang LinTaizhou City Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Taizhou, China.
Wei ZhangSchool of Public Health, NHC Key Laboratory of Health Technology Assessment, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Xiaoxiao ChenSchool of Public Health, NHC Key Laboratory of Health Technology Assessment, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Chaowei FuSchool of Public Health, NHC Key Laboratory of Health Technology Assessment, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.

Funding

JW was sponsored by the China Medical Board (grant number #22-472) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 72104053). CF was sponsored by the General Project of Shanghai Municipal Health Commission (grant number 202240115). HL and XC were sponsored by the Special Support Program for High Level Talents in Taizhou (grant number TZ2022-2).
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionExisting research indicates high prevalence of emotional problems among adolescents with excessive academic burden, yet the underlying reasons are not well understood. This study aimed to explore loneliness, physical activity, and sleep as potential mediating pathways between academic burden and emotional problems in adolescents.

methodsA longitudinal cohort study was conducted among middle and high school students in Taizhou City, Zhejiang Province, China, with data collected at three time points. The study included 2965 adolescents, with a mean age of 15.2 years (SD = 1.7), of whom 48.0% were female. Most participants came from families with middle to high economic status (94.8%). Structural equation modeling was employed to analyze the direct associations between academic burden (measured by study time and academic stress) and depressive and anxiety symptoms. Additionally, the indirect associations were explored through three mediators: loneliness, physical activity, and sleep.

resultsHigher academic stress at T1 was directly associated with more severe depressive symptoms at T3. Sleep (indirect effect 0.11, 95% CI 0.09-0.13), loneliness (0.10, 0.08-0.11) and physical activity (0.01, 0.002-0.012) at T2 mediated the relationship, accounting for 31.0%, 26.8%, and 1.8% of the total association of academic stress, respectively. For anxiety symptoms, sleep (0.11, 0.09-0.14) and loneliness (0.07, 0.05-0.08) mediated the association of academic stress with longitudinal mediation effect sizes of 34.1% and 20.6%, respectively. Study time was only associated with the outcomes indirectly via academic stress.

conclusionsOur results highlight the importance of behavioral and psychosocial differences related to academic burden in understanding the severity of mental health problems in adolescents.

Indexed as

DepressionStress, PsychologicalStudentsAdolescentAnxietyChinaExerciseFemaleHumansLonelinessLongitudinal StudiesMaleMediation AnalysisSleepacademic burdenadolescenceemotional problemslonelinessphysical activitysleep

Identifiers

PMID39835663
PMCPMC12128909

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.