Latent Profiles of Youth Social Support: A Study on Variations and Their Impact on Self-Esteem

Jingxian Yu^1*Yuqin Guo¹Yongqi Liang²Huan Peng³Na Li³Weishen Gu²Hanjiao Liu²

• ¹Seventh Clinical Medical College, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China
• ²Shenzhen Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Shenzhen, Hong Kong Region, China
• ³Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China

Introduction: The current significant suicide rate reflects the urgency of addressing mental health problems among young people. At the same time, social support and self-esteem are key factors affecting young people's mental health and suicide risk. Therefore, this study aims to explore the variations in perceived social support among youth using a latent profile analysis approach and examine its association with self-esteem.Methods: Questionnaires were distributed using a simple random sampling technique in Shenzhen and Shaoguan, Guangdong Province. Data were collected using the multidimensional perceived social support scale and the self-esteem scale, and descriptive analysis and potential profile analysis were performed using SPSS and R.Results:This study identified three potential categories of perceived social support: “High Social Support”(55.7%), “High Friend Support and Moderate Social Support”(34.35%), and“Low Social Support”(9.95%), and young people who work in the service industry, are widowed, have two or more children, and have high academic achievement are likely to have worse perceived social support. Self-esteem was positively related to the categories of perceived social support, and the group with low social support had the lowest self-esteem.Discussion: most young people have a high level of perceived social support, but a low perceived social support group needs more attention and help. It is suggested that both social support and self-esteem should be paid attention to maintain young people's mental health.