School Relational Environment and Adolescent Depressive Symptoms: Insights from Latent Profile and Network Analysis.

Abstract

Grounded in the bioecological model, this study examined depressive symptom profiles and their links with school relational factors (teacher-student relationships, home-school relationships, peer friendships, and bullying victimization) among 3,837 Chinese adolescents (M_age = 14.71 years; SD_age = 1.42; 51.7% female). Latent profile analysis of depressed affect, somatic and retarded activity, interpersonal problems, and lack of positive affect identified four groups: low depression risk (LDR, 68.5%), moderate depression risk with low interpersonal problems (MDR-LIP, 11.6%), moderate depression risk (MDR, 13.5%), and high depression risk (HDR, 6.5%). Network analysis revealed profile-specific edge-weight configurations. The LDR group showed a pattern broadly consistent with supportive school relationships, the MDR-LIP group showed more complex, problem-linked relational edges, and the MDR and HDR groups showed strong depressed affect-somatic activity connections. Centrality analyses further highlighted peer friendships and lack of positive affect as recurring symptom-relationship connection points. These findings support differentiated school-based support.