Peer-reviewed article
Longitudinal transitions of somatic-emotional distress in Chinese adolescents: A random-intercept latent transition analysis of the longitudinal protective effects of resilience.
Xizi Yang, Jin Lu, Xin Tian, Xuenan Yang, Yi Xiang et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study followed 9,035 Chinese adolescents aged 10-17 over 12 months to understand how emotional distress, anxiety, and physical complaints develop and persist. Researchers identified four distinct groups: healthy adolescents (60%), and those with mild, moderate, or severe emotional and physical distress. Higher resilience—particularly emotion regulation, family support, and help from others—protected healthy adolescents from developing distress, but did not help those already suffering to recover.
Key points
- Four distinct profiles identified: Somatic-Emotional Healthy (60%), Mild (20%), Moderate (12%), and Severe Distress (6%)
- Healthy adolescents showed 81% stability; severe distress showed 56% stability over 12 months
- Higher baseline resilience reduced risk of distress onset and worsening for healthy adolescents (odds ratios 0.50–0.77)
- Specific resilience dimensions—emotion regulation, family support, and interpersonal assistance—were most protective
- Resilience did not predict recovery from existing mild or severe distress
Limitations
The study relied on self-report measures and was limited to a Chinese adolescent population, so findings may not generalise to other settings or cultures. The two-wave design over 12 months is relatively short to assess longer-term trajectories of distress.
Abstract
Pediatric internalizing problems, suicidality, and functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) frequently co-occur, but their longitudinal dynamics and the protective role of resilience remain under-investigated. In this two-wave, 12-month prospective study included 9035 Chinese children and adolescents aged 10-17 years, we used self-report measures (the Rome IV Diagnostic Questionnaire for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, General Anxiety Disorder-7, Suicide Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised, and Resilience Scale for Children and Adolescents) to assess these factors. We applied latent profile analysis to identify discrete symptom profiles and random-intercept latent transition analysis (RI-LTA) to examine transition patterns. Three-step multinomial logistic regression was used to evaluate the predictive effects of baseline resilience on profile transitions. Four discrete profiles emerged: Somatic-Emotional Healthy (~60%), Mild (~20%), Moderate (~12%), and Severe Somatic-Emotional Distress (~6%). RI-LTA revealed substantial stability, particularly for the Healthy (81% retention) and Severe (56% retention) profiles. Higher baseline resilience significantly buffered against transitions to more severe profiles for initially healthy adolescents (odds ratios ranging from 0.50 to 0.77, all p < 0.001). Specific dimensions (emotion regulation, family support, and interpersonal assistance) reduced the risk of distress onset and extreme deterioration. However, baseline resilience did not predict spontaneous recovery from mild or severe distress (all p > 0.05). Somatic-emotional distress exhibits distinct severity profiles with strong persistence at extremes. Resilience buffers against symptom onset and escalation but shows limited efficacy in reversing established symptoms. Universal interventions prioritizing emotion regulation and social support networks are urgently needed to disrupt the trajectory of pediatric somatic-emotional distress.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Resilience, operationalised as emotion regulation, family support, and interpersonal assistance
- Population
- Chinese adolescents aged 10-17 years (n=9,035)
Key finding
Higher baseline resilience reduced odds of transitioning from healthy to mild, moderate, or severe distress (odds ratios 0.50–0.77, all p<0.001)