Dynamic relationships between emotional distress, self-esteem, loneliness, and hope in adolescents: A psychometric and network analysis

Abstract

Emotional distress during adolescence can significantly affect well-being and future psychological development, making its study an urgent matter. The present study aimed to examine the dynamic relationships between emotional distress symptoms—depression, anxiety, and stress—and key psychological constructs including self-esteem, loneliness, and hope among Chinese senior high school students (n = 1862; Mean age = 16.22, SD = 0.56; 49.8% female). Using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale for Youth (DASS-Y) to assess emotional distress, a comprehensive methodological approach was employed combining Rasch analysis, Structural Equation Modelling, Exploratory Structural Equation Modelling, and Network Analysis (NwA) to investigate how these psychological constructs interact. After confirming the factor structure of the DASS-Y, the convergent validity of distress, as well as of the depression, anxiety, and stress dimensions, was confirmed in relation to self-esteem, loneliness, and hope. NwA showed novel insights into the complex interactions among these constructs, particularly highlighting a significantly positive relationship between loneliness and stress, and identifying the central role of anxiety-related items “I felt scared for no good reason” and “I felt terrified”. These findings provide a deeper understanding of how emotional distress interacts with other psychological constructs among adolescents. This understanding suggests potential intervention strategies focusing on reducing fear and loneliness to alleviate anxiety and stress.

Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. This research was supported by the 2024 Key Project of Jiangsu Provincial Education Science Planning (No. B-b/2024/04/50).