Objective:

To investigate the cognitive-emotional pathways linking loneliness to psychological crises in Chinese adolescents, focusing on ruminative thinking as a mediator and social support and resilience as moderators.

Approach:

• Study Design: Pilot study with a sample of 312 Chinese adolescents (ages 12–18) using structural equation modeling (SEM) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).
• Data Collection: Two-wave longitudinal data (n = 187) were collected for depression; anxiety and suicidal ideation were examined cross-sectionally.

Key Findings:

• Loneliness significantly correlates with depressive symptoms (β = 0.43, p < 0.001), anxiety (β = 0.38, p < 0.001), and suicidal ideation (β = 0.27, p < 0.001).
• Ruminative thinking accounts for 40–46% of the total indirect association between loneliness and psychological crises.
• Social support buffers the relationship from loneliness to rumination (b = −0.16, p = 0.002), while resilience buffers from rumination to crisis (b = −0.19, p < 0.001).

Interpretation:

Ruminative thinking may partially mediate the relationship between loneliness and psychological crises, with social support and resilience moderating this association.

Limitations:

• The pilot study is underpowered for the moderated mediation model.
• Longitudinal evidence is limited to depression outcomes only.

Conclusion:

Findings are exploratory and suggest the need for further research with a larger sample size.