To explore the network structures of anxiety and depressive emotions among early adolescent elementary school students and to examine gender differences in these structures.

In April 2025, a cluster sampling method was employed to select 1182 students in grades 4~6 from two elementary schools in Nanjing and Huai'an. Depression, anxiety, smartphone addiction, and emotion regulation strategies were assessed using the DSRSC, SCARED, SAS-SV, and ERQ scales. Gender differences were analyzed via t-tests. Core and bridging nodes were identified through regularized partial correlation networks, with stability and gender differences evaluated using Bootstrap sampling and network comparison tests.

Girls scored significantly higher than boys on both anxiety and depression measures (P＜0.001). Network analysis revealed that generalized anxiety had the highest centrality (strength=1.870, 95%CI: 1.214~2.681), while smartphone addiction exhibited the strongest bridging effect (bridge expected influence=0.638, 95%CI: 0.538~0.736). Gender difference analysis indicated stronger depression-social anxiety connections in girls (P=0.003), while boys exhibited stronger links between generalized anxiety and separation anxiety (P=0.047) and between cognitive reappraisal and expressive inhibition (P=0.042). Regarding bridge expected influence, boys exhibited the highest effect for smartphone addiction (bridge expected influence=0.669, 95%CI: 0.531~0.777), while girls showed the highest effect for depression (bridge expected influence=0.723, 95%CI: 0.594~0.866).

This study highlights the critical need for early adolescent interventions to address the central role of generalized anxiety and its bridging link to smartphone addiction. Concurrently, prevention strategies should be gender-tailored: focusing on externalizing behavioral issues in boys and internalizing emotional problems such as depression in girls.