Meaning in life, emptiness and depression among adolescents: a cross-sectional study

To investigate the relationship between meaning in life, emptiness and depression among adolescents.

A cross-sectional study was conducted using convenience sampling at a Senior High School in China, in May 2022. Validated questionnaires, including Center for Epidemiological Survey Depression Scale (CES-D), Revised Meaning in Life Questionnaire (RMLQ), and Emptiness Questionnaire (EQ), were administered to senior high school students. Binary logistic regression was employed to analyze associations between depression and independent variables.

A total of 2230 senior high school students were included, among whom 726 (32.6%) were classified as depressed (DEP) and 1504 (67.4%) as non-depressed (non-DEP). Compared with non-DEP, the DEP group had a significantly higher proportion of females (49.7% vs. 39.9%; χ ² = 19.30, p < 0.001). Moreover, the DEP group reported higher levels of emptiness (39.59 ± 7.63 vs. 37.34 ± 7.62, p < 0.001), lower presence of meaning (21.56 ± 6.32 vs. 26.97 ± 6.19, p < 0.001), and lower searching for meaning (24.85 ± 5.82 vs. 26.18 ± 7.05, p < 0.001). Correlation analyses revealed that depressive symptoms were positively associated with emptiness (r = 0.16) and negatively with presence of meaning (r = -0.46) and searching for meaning (r = -0.12) (all p < 0.001). In hierarchical logistic regression, emptiness (OR = 1.03, p < 0.001) and presence of meaning (OR = 0.88, p < 0.001) were significant predictors of depression, whereas searching for meaning was not (p = 0.08). The combined prediction model (emptiness, presence of meaning, and demographics) showed an AUC of 0.74 (95% CI: 0.72-0.76), indicating acceptable discriminative ability.

In this cross-sectional sample, emptiness and limited presence of meaning in life were concurrently associated with depression status among high school students. Although directionality cannot be determined, these findings suggest that interventions targeting these constructs may warrant evaluation in future longitudinal and experimental research, and their combination shows potential for school-based screening.