The Co-development of Depressive Symptoms and Problem Behaviors in Chinese Children and the Effect of Psychological Suzhi: A Longitudinal Study.

Abundant studies have explored the co-occurrence of depressive symptoms and problem behaviors in children within Western populations and theoretical frameworks. However, existing research on the developmental association between the two has not effectively distinguished between between-person and within-person effects, and investigations into the impact of Chinese indigenous protective factors on their developmental relationship are relatively scarce. To address this gap, the present study adopted a Random Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Model (RI-CLPM) to systematically examine the co-development of the two constructs and the effect of psychological suzhi among Chinese children. The sample included 1200 Chinese children aged 8-12 years, with a baseline mean age of 9.60 years (SD = 0.75) and 48.83% female participants, who received five follow-up assessments over two years. The results showed that at the between-person level, children with higher levels of depressive symptoms also had higher levels of problem behaviors, and vice versa. Children with higher levels of psychological suzhi had lower levels of both depressive symptoms and problem behaviors. At the within-person level, depressive symptoms and problem behaviors presented a dynamic bidirectional predictive relationship, and the predictive effect of depressive symptoms on problem behaviors gradually strengthened over time. Further analyses revealed that within-person improvement in psychological suzhi predicted concurrent decreases in both depressive symptoms and problem behaviors, among which the protective effect on problem behaviors emerged earlier and was more stable. Conversely, the exacerbation of both depressive symptoms and problem behaviors hindered the development of psychological suzhi, with the negative impact of depressive symptoms being more severe. These findings highlight the potential protective role of psychological suzhi in the co-development of children's depressive symptoms and problem behaviors, and provide empirical support for explaining their co-development from the perspective of theoretical integration.