New Publication: Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms During COVID-19
I’m very excited to share that our article,
“Trajectories of Depressive Symptom Among College Students in China During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Association With Suicidal Ideation and Insomnia Symptoms,”
has just been published in Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior :contentReferenceoaicite:0.
This three-year, five-wave longitudinal study followed 1,387 Chinese college students to better understand how depression evolved during the pandemic. Using growth mixture modeling (GMM), we identified five distinct trajectories of depressive symptoms:
- Resilient (24%) — consistently low symptoms
- Moderate-remission (46%) — moderate but improving over time
- Low-increasing (20%) — gradual worsening
- High-recovery (6%) — severe early, later recovered
- Moderate-increasing (4%) — moderate but worsening
🔎 Importantly, these trajectories were not just statistical patterns — they predicted later risks of suicidal ideation and insomnia. Students in the increasing-symptom groups were at particularly high risk, underscoring the importance of early identification and targeted interventions.
This study highlights the heterogeneity of mental health responses during COVID-19 and calls for more nuanced, trajectory-based approaches to supporting young people.
📄 Full text available here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/sltb.70051