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. 2023 Dec 22:11:1235262.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1235262. eCollection 2023.

Statistical analysis of mental influencing factors for anxiety and depression of rural and urban freshmen

Chang Li  1 , Bingchuan Sun  2
Affiliations

Statistical analysis of mental influencing factors for anxiety and depression of rural and urban freshmen

Chang Li et al. Front Public Health. .

Abstract

The freshmen stage is a high incidence period for psychological issues. With the increasing gap between urban and rural areas in China, the mental problems of rural freshmen are more prominent in recent years due to the huge contrast of campus life with their growth environment and other reasons. The concern for the mental well-being of both rural and urban freshman students prompted our comprehensive five-year study (2018-2022) on psychological issues in a group of 12,564 first-year students from dozens of public universities in Shandong province. The investigation employed PPS (probability proportional to size) sampling and was conducted near the the end of the first semester. Using the data gathered, we analyzed and compared the indicators of psychological problems in rural and urban freshmen by Duncan's Multiple Range Test. We also conducted a canonical correlation analysis and pathway analysis to examine the psychological factors that contribute to anxiety and depression in both rural and urban freshmen. According to the findings, rural freshmen exhibit significantly higher levels of anxiety and depression than their urban counterparts. Inferiority, obsession, and internet addiction were identified as the primary influencing factors of anxiety and depression in both rural and urban freshmen. Social phobia was found to be a significant influencing factor for anxiety in rural freshmen, while bigotry was identified as a specific influencing factor for urban freshmen. Furthermore, the results of the path analysis suggest that anxiety plays a crucial role as a mediating factor between the main influencing factors and depression. These results substantially extend former research in this area and have important implications for the development of effective intervention strategies to address anxiety and depression. According to these results, policymakers should assess and intervene of anxiety and depression as a whole, and provide mental health education according to main effect factors of freshmen from rural and urban areas. Detailed policy recommendations are in discussion and conclusion.

Keywords: PPS investigation; anxiety; canonical correlation analysis; depression; education; path analysis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The descriptive statistics for psychological problems in freshmen coming from rural and urban area. (A) Descriptive statistics for mental problems of rural freshmen. (B) Descriptive statistics for mental problems of urban freshmen.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Comparison of anxiety and depression for urban and rural freshmen. (A) P value of anxiety comparison. (B) Means of anxiety. (C) P value of depression comparison. (D) Means of depression.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The effect factors for anxiety and depression for rural freshmen. (A) Anxiety. (B) Depression.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The effect factors for anxiety and depression for urban freshmen. (A) Anxiety. (B) Depression.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Canonical correlation analysis for anxiety and depression for rural freshmen. (A) Significance test of canonical correlation coefficient. (B) Correlation coefficient. (C) Correlation coefficient. (D) Score plane isogram.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Canonical correlation analysis for anxiety and depression for urban freshmen. (A) Significance test of canonical correlation coefficient. (B) Correlation coefficient. (C) Score plane isogram.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Path analysis for effect factors of depression (mediated by anxiety) for rural freshmen.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Path analysis for effect factors of depression (mediated by anxiety) for urban freshmen.
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