Academic Pressure and Psychological Imbalance in High School Students: Predictors of Depression via Polynomial Regression and Response Surface Analysis

Yanyue Ye; Zheng Zhang; Zhen Tao; Cui Liping; Yuxin Wang; Hui Chen; Sihong Li; Xianliang Chen; Huajia Tang; Jiawei Zhou; Jiansong Zhou

doi:10.2147/PRBM.S498606

Academic Pressure and Psychological Imbalance in High School Students: Predictors of Depression via Polynomial Regression and Response Surface Analysis

Psychol Res Behav Manag. 2025 Jan 7:18:15-23. doi: 10.2147/PRBM.S498606. eCollection 2025.

Authors

Yanyue Ye^#¹, Zheng Zhang^#¹, Zhen Tao², Cui Liping³, Yuxin Wang¹, Hui Chen¹, Sihong Li¹, Xianliang Chen¹, Huajia Tang¹, Jiawei Zhou¹, Jiansong Zhou^#¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, National Center for Mental Disorders, National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, Changsha, People's Republic of China.
² Human Resources Department, Hebei Vocational University of Technology and Engineering, Hebei, People's Republic of China.
³ Department of Psychiatry, Liuyang Brain Hospital, Liuyang, People's Republic of China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore how the congruence between academic pressure and psychological imbalance affects depressive symptoms in adolescents and to further explore grade-level differences in these effects among high school students.

Methods: The study population consisted of 29,975 high school students from 20 schools in Liuyang City, Hunan Province. The Mental Health Scale for Secondary School Students (MSSMHS) and Self-Depression Scale (SDS) were used to assess academic pressure, psychological imbalance and depressive symptoms. The effects of academic pressure and psychological imbalance were examined by polynomial regression and response surface analysis.

Results: The results showed that the lowest level of academic pressure (F = 35.99, p < 0.001), psychological imbalance (F = 54.50, p < 0.001), and depressive symptoms (F = 9.36, p < 0.001) was found in repeaters, while the highest level was found in twelfth graders. Academic pressure was positively associated with psychological disequilibrium, and both were positively associated with adolescent depressive symptoms. Furthermore, when academic pressure and psychological imbalance are aligned, adolescent depressive symptoms increase with the first two. In addition, adolescent depressive symptoms decreased as the difference between academic pressure and psychological imbalance increased.

Conclusion: This study elucidates the non-linear relationship between academic pressure, psychological imbalance and depressive symptoms, and that adopting appropriate strategies to reduce academic pressure and adjust psychological balance is crucial for the prevention of depression in adolescents.

Keywords: academic pressure; adolescents; depressive symptoms; polynomial regression analysis; psychological imbalance.

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the STI2030-Major Projects (2021ZD0200700), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (82071543, 82471568), and the Key Research and Development Program of Hunan Province (2023SK2028). The funding source had no role in the study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation of data, the writing of the report, or the decision to submit the article for publication.