Obsessive-compulsive symptoms is a common psychological phenomenon among college students. There is a wealth of cross-sectional research examining the overall development trend of obsessive-compulsive symptoms among college students, but there is a lack of research on the development trajectory of obsessive-compulsive symptoms among college students.

To investigate the development trajectory and influencing factors of compulsive symptoms among college students through longitudinal tracking.

The study employed a cluster random sampling method to select freshman students from Xinjiang Normal University as the research subjects, and conducted three follow-up tests using the obsessive-symptom and anxiety subscales in the Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90) over a period of 3 years. The first test was initiated in November 2020 (T1) , followed by the second test in March 2022 (T2) , and the third test in March 2023 (T3) . The survey results were analyzed using latent variable growth modeling.

Data analysis was conducted using 3 289 valid samples who participated in all three measurements. Among the 3 289 college students, there were 1 966 females (59.8%) , 2 352 Han nationality (71.5%) , with an average age at the first survey of (21.0±0.7) years old. The scores of anxiety subscales in the SCL-90 were (1.48±0.51) scores at T1, (1.38±0.45) scores at T2 and (1.33±0.43) scores at T3; The scores of obsessive-symptom subscales in the SCL-90 were (1.75±0.58) scores at T1, (1.66±0.55) scores at T2 and (1.53±0.53) scores at T3. Pearson correlation analysis showed that there was a positive correlation between obsessive-compulsive symptoms and anxiety in college students at each time point (P<0.05) . The unconditional linear model showed a good fit, with a significant positive intercept (P<0.001) and a significant negative slope (P<0.001) , and a negative correlation between the intercept and slope (r=-0.033, P<0.001) , indicating that the scores of compulsive symptoms among college students showed a downward trend, with a higher starting level leading to a faster rate of decline. Inclusion of gender covariates (male=0, female=1) , it was found that gender had a positive predictive effect on intercept (β=0.105, P<0.001) , but had no significant predictive effect on slope (β<0.001, P>0.05) , indicating that female college students had a higher initial level of obsessive-compulsive symptoms than male students, and there was no significant difference in decline rate. After including anxiety as a covariate, it was found that anxiety positively affected obsessive-compulsive symptoms at each time point (P<0.001) . It was also found that gender had a positive predictive effect on the slope (β=0.017, P<0.05) , but had no significant predictive effect on the intercept (β=0.012, P>0.05) , indicating that after controlling for the influence of anxiety, the decline rate of obsessive symptoms in female college students was significantly lower than that in male college students.

Obsessive-compulsive symptoms among college students decrease with the increase of grade, and a high starting level does not necessarily lead to long-term distress. Anxiety hinders the alleviation of obsessive-compulsive symptoms and influences the emergence of obsessive-compulsive symptoms in female college students and the decline rate of obsessive-compulsive symptoms in male college students to a greater extent.

大学生是强迫症状的高发群体，已有大量横断面研究考察大学生强迫症状的整体发展趋势，但缺少对于大学生强迫症状发展轨迹的研究。

通过纵向追踪的方式，考察大学生强迫症状的发展轨迹及影响因素。

采用整群随机抽样的方法，选取新疆师范大学大一学生为研究对象，使用症状自评量表（SCL-90）中的强迫症状分量表与焦虑分量表对大学生进行为期3年的3次追踪测试，第一次施测时间为2020年11月（T1），第二次施测时间为2022年3月（T2），第3次施测时间为2023年3月（T3）。对调查结果使用潜变量增长模型进行数据分析。

采用同时参与3次测量的3 289份有效被试数据进行数据分析。3 289名大学生中女性1 966人（59.8%），汉族2 352人（71.5%），首次施测平均年龄（21.0±0.7）岁。大学生焦虑得分分别为：T1（1.48±0.51）分，T2（1.38±0.45）分，T3（1.33±0.43）分；强迫症状得分分别为：T1（1.75±0.58）分，T2（1.66±0.55）分，T3（1.53±0.53）分。Pearson相关分析结果显示，各时间点大学生强迫症状与焦虑均存在正相关关系（P<0.05）。无条件线性模型结果显示拟合良好，模型截距显著>0（P<0.001）、斜率显著<0（P<0.001），截距与斜率之间呈负相关（r=-0.033，P<0.001），表明大学生强迫症状得分呈现下降趋势，起始水平越高下降速度越快。纳入性别协变量（赋值：男=0，女=1）后，发现性别对截距具有正向预测作用（β=0.105，P<0.001），对斜率的预测作用无统计学意义（β<0.001，P>0.05），即女大学生强迫症状起始水平高于男大学生，下降速度不存在差异。纳入焦虑协变量后，发现各时间点焦虑正向影响强迫症状（P<0.001），性别对斜率具有正向预测作用（β=0.017，P<0.05），对截距的预测作用无统计学意义（β=0.012，P>0.05），即控制焦虑的影响后，女大学生强迫症状的下降速度低于男大学生。

大学生强迫症状随年级升高而下降，高起始水平不一定带来长期困扰。焦虑阻碍强迫症状的缓解，并更大程度地影响女大学生强迫症状的出现及男大学生强迫症状的下降速度。