Anxiety and Depression Symptoms among Youth Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse: A Network Analysis

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have frequently reported a high prevalence of co-occurring anxiety and depression among people who experienced stressful events in childhood. However, few have noted the symptomatic relationship of this comorbidity among childhood sexual abuse (CSA) survivors. Therefore, this study’s objectives were as follows: (1) to examine the relationship across symptoms between anxiety and depression among CSA survivors; (2) to compare differences between male and female network structures among CSA survivors. METHODS: A total of 63 Universities and Colleges in Jilin Province, China, covered 96,218 participants in this study, a sub-set data of which met the criteria of CSA was analyzed with the network analysis. The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form (CTQ-SF), measured CSA. Anxiety was measured by the seven-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7), and depression was measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). The sex difference between anxiety and depression among CSA survivors was compared. RESULTS: 3,479 college students reported the experience of CSA (CTQ-SF total scores ≥ 8), with a prevalence of 3.62% (95% CI: 3.50–3.73%). Among CSA survivors, control worry, sad mood, and energy were central and bridge symptoms of the anxiety and depression network. Meanwhile, male CSA survivors appeared to have a stronger correlation between guilt and suicide, but female CSA survivors seemed to have a stronger correlation between control worry and suicide. Moreover, the edge of control worry-relax-afraid was stronger in the male network, while the edge of restless-relax was stronger in the female network. CONCLUSION: Control worry, sad mood, and energy are crucial to offer targeted treatment and to relieve anxiety and depression symptoms for CSA survivors. Guilt needs more attention for male CSA survivors, while control worry remains more important for female CSA survivors to reduce suicidal ideation and suicide attempts. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40359-023-01275-3.