Cong Wang, Hongyu Xie, Yulu He, Yu Yang, Lie Zhou, Hui Jin, Yang Wen, Jia Cai, Yun-Fei Mu, Yun Xiao, Jawad Ahmad, Xiaoling Zhang, Lin Zhao, Junwen Peng, Lunwei Kang, Yang Wu, Yonghong Li, Mao‐Sheng Ran, Ga Liao
Anxiety and depression are the most common mental health issues among adolescents, and the impact of air pollution on mental health is gaining increasing attention. This study aims to investigate the association between air pollutant exposure and the risks of anxiety and depression among adolescent students in Sichuan Province, China. This study used cross-sectional data from 71,364 school students aged 10 to 19 in Sichuan Province, China, collected during two winter periods: December 2022 to March 2023 and December 2023 to March 2024. PHQ-9 and GAD-7 assessed anxiety/depression (scores ≥ 5); pollution (PM 10 , PM 2.5 , O 3 , CO, SO 2 , NO 2 ) and weather data via IP informed weighted combined pollution score for exposure. Logistic regression and mixed-effects linear models were employed to evaluate the associations, adjusting for demographic, lifestyle, family-related, and meteorological factors. Both PM 10 and O 3 showed robust positive associations with mental health risks. In the fully adjusted model (Model 4), each interquartile range (IQR) increase in PM 10 and O 3 was associated with increased risks of anxiety (OR: 1.29, 95% CI: 1.22–1.36 for PM 10 ; OR: 1.24, 95% CI: 1.19–1.29 for O 3 ) and depression. Mixed-effects models confirmed that O 3 significantly increased scale scores. Quantile analysis of the weighted combined pollution score revealed a stepwise increase in risk, highlighting the significant impact of exposure to high pollution levels. Conversely, PM 2.5 and SO 2 showed inverse associations in this specific context. Exposure to high levels of PM 10 and O 3 is significantly associated with increased risks of anxiety and depression in adolescents, emphasizing the need for public health measures like air quality monitoring and pollution control policies.