Moderated mediation analyses to assess intervention mechanisms for impacts on victimisation, psycho-social problems and mental wellbeing: evidence from the INCLUSIVE realist randomized trial

Resilience, pessimism, and depression in undergraduates in Hong Kong during Covid-19: A cross-sectional online survey study (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.29117 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Min Yi Sum ◽

Sherry Kit Wa Chan ◽

Gloria Hoi Yan Wong

Keyword(s):

Hong Kong ◽

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Undergraduate Students ◽

Family Conflict ◽

Online Survey ◽

Mental Wellbeing ◽

Survey Study ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Mediation Analyses ◽

The Impact

BACKGROUND Adolescence and young adulthood is a period of heightened risk of mental disorders onset. The Covid-19 pandemic may have impacted the daily lives and learning of students, exposing them to risks of emotional distress. Understanding factors associated with individual differences in distress can inform remedial strategies for schools. OBJECTIVE To investigate the impact of Covid-19 on undergraduate students’ lifestyle and learning, and explore relationship between depressive symptoms, resilience, and optimism/pessimism bias in undergraduate students in Hong Kong. METHODS Cross-sectional online survey of undergraduate students in a university (n=1020) before and during the third wave of Covid-19 outbreak in Hong Kong between May and August 2020. Changes in habits and family conflicts, depressive symptoms (measured using Patient Health Questionnaire-9), resilience (measured using Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale), optimism/pessimism towards Covid-19 risks, and knowledge about Covid-19 were recorded. Multivariable linear regression and mediation analyses were used to explore relationships with depressive symptoms. RESULTS 61.7% of respondents have mild to severe depressive symptoms. The regression model found that 18.5% of the variance in depressive symptoms was explained by resilience, pessimism bias, changes in sleep, decrease in study at home, and increase in family conflict. Mediation analysis showed that resilience is indirectly related to depressive symptoms through its relationship with pessimism (ab = -0.042, CI = -0.057 to -0.013). Higher resilience was associated with lower depressive symptoms even after accounting for resilience’s indirect effect through pessimism (c’ = 0.311, P < .001). CONCLUSIONS The findings highlight the mental health vulnerability of undergraduate students. Measures to reduce family conflict, maintain healthy daily habits, adjust optimism/pessimism bias, and enhance resilience may be useful for improving the mental wellbeing of undergraduate students during the pandemic.

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Machiavellian Leader Effectiveness

Journal of Personnel Psychology ◽

10.1027/1866-5888/a000284 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Hanna A. Genau ◽

Gerhard Blickle ◽

Nora Schütte ◽

James A. Meurs

Keyword(s):

Transformational Leadership ◽

Leadership Effectiveness ◽

Political Skill ◽

Moderated Mediation ◽

Leader Effectiveness ◽

Negatively Associated ◽

Mediation Analyses ◽

Activation Theory ◽

Trait Activation ◽

Trait Activation Theory

Abstract. Research on the effectiveness of Machiavellian leaders has found contradictory results. By linking socioanalytic and trait activation theory to the Machiavellianism and leadership literature, we argue that political skill may explain these findings by moderating the relation between Machiavellianism and leadership effectiveness. Using a multisource design and moderated mediation analyses with 153 leaders, 287 subordinates, and 153 superiors, we show that leaders who are both strongly politically skilled and high on Machiavellianism successfully enact transformational leadership, mediating improved leader effectiveness. However, when leader political skill is low, high Machiavellianism is negatively associated with (subordinate-rated) transformational leadership, resulting in lower leader effectiveness ratings by superiors. We discuss these results in light of current research on Machiavellianism in leadership and work contexts.

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Transformational Leadership and Instructional Quality during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Moderated Mediation Analy

Drustvena istrazivanja ◽

10.5559/di.30.2.01 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 30 (2) ◽

pp. 181-202

Author(s):

Irena Burić ◽

Maja Parmač Kovačić ◽

Aleksandra Huić

Keyword(s):

School Leadership ◽

Online Teaching ◽

Online Survey ◽

Instructional Quality ◽

Moderated Mediation ◽

Protective Role ◽

Mediation Analyses ◽

Mediating Role ◽

Digital Competencies

The school lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic pushed teachers to online teaching literally overnight, which put their performance at risk. Transformational school leadership (TSL), teacher self-efficacy (TSE) and digital competencies might have played a protective role in such burdening conditions. Therefore, the present study aimed to examine the mediating role of TSE in explaining the relationship between TSL and instructional quality. Additionally, the moderating role of digital competencies in explaining the interrelations between TSL and TSE as well as between TSE and instructional quality, or the proposed mediating mechanism, was tested. The study was conducted via online survey in Spring 2020 and involved 1655 Croatian teachers. The mediation and moderated mediation analyses revealed that TSL was positively related to instructional quality both directly and indirectly via TSE. Teacher digital competencies did not moderate the proposed relationships or the mediating mechanism.

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Being the minority hurts or helps? A moderated mediation model of group membership, cross-cultural acceptance, and school adjustment

Group Processes & Intergroup Relations ◽

10.1177/1368430220952137 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 136843022095213

Author(s):

Kathy Kar-man Shum ◽

Winnie Wai Lan Chan ◽

Emily Wing See Tsoi ◽

Shui-fong Lam

Keyword(s):

School Engagement ◽

Minority Groups ◽

Group Membership ◽

Minority Group ◽

School Adjustment ◽

Moderated Mediation ◽

Cross Cultural ◽

Mediation Model ◽

Mediation Analyses ◽

Moderated Mediation Model

This study examined the relations between majority/minority group membership and cross-cultural acceptance, and their linkage to school adjustment. A total of 2,016 students (ethnic minority [EM]: 51%; boys: 50%) at Grades 2, 5, 8, and 11 from 15 schools in Hong Kong participated in the study. These schools were either of low (below 30%) or high EM concentrations (over 70%). EM students at low-EM-concentration schools and Chinese students at high-EM-concentration schools both belonged to the minority groups in their respective schools. Moderated mediation analyses showed that being the numerical minority in school predicted higher school engagement and more positive affect. The associations between numerical group membership and adjustment outcomes were each mediated by the intention to accept outgroup members. In other words, higher cross-cultural acceptance was found among students who were themselves the minority in school, and stronger outgroup acceptance, in turn, predicted better adjustment.

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Sexual Objectification, Internalization, and College Women’s Depression: The Role of Shame

The Counseling Psychologist ◽

10.1177/0011000019878847 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 48 (1) ◽

pp. 135-156 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Dawn M. Szymanski

Keyword(s):

College Women ◽

Direct Effect ◽

Moderated Mediation ◽

Sexual Objectification ◽

Women Clients ◽

Body Surveillance ◽

Mediation Analyses ◽

Self Blame ◽

Low Levels

This study examined potential mediators, a moderator, and a moderated mediation of the link between sexual objectification experiences and depression among 489 young adult college women. Findings from the mediation analyses revealed that sexual objectification was directly and indirectly related to depression via greater body surveillance and self-blame. Shame moderated the direct effect of sexual objectification on body surveillance. Sexual objectification predicted body surveillance for women with low but not high or moderate levels of shame. Shame also moderated the direct effect of sexual objectification on self-blame and provided support for moderated mediation via conditional process analyses. Sexual objectification predicted self-blame for women with high and moderate but not low levels of shame. The findings underscore the importance of attending to experiences of objectification when working with women clients presenting with depression and to help them lessen habitual body monitoring, blaming themselves for being sexually objectified, and feelings of shame.

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Loneliness, regulatory focus, inter-personal competence, and online game addiction

Internet Research ◽

10.1108/intr-01-2018-0020 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 29 (2) ◽

pp. 381-394 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Ji-yeon Lee ◽

Dong Woo Ko ◽

Hyemin Lee

Keyword(s):

Regulatory Focus ◽

Moderated Mediation ◽

Underlying Mechanism ◽

Online Game ◽

Mediation Model ◽

Content Type ◽

Personal Competence ◽

Mediation Analyses ◽

Moderated Mediation Model ◽

Game Addiction

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the predictors of game addiction based on loneliness, motivation and inter-personal competence using the samples of college students recruited from South Korea (n=251). Design/methodology/approach The authors examined the underlying mechanism of game addiction by testing a moderated mediation model, in which inter-personal competence moderated the mediation model of loneliness, regulatory focus and online game addiction. First, the authors clarified the relationship among loneliness, motivation and inter-personal competence, to understand the influences of loneliness on other variables in this study (mediation test). Second, the authors examined the underlying mechanism of game addiction by testing a moderated mediation model, in which inter-personal competence moderated the mediation model of loneliness, regulatory focus and online game addiction (moderated mediation). Findings Regulatory focus mediated the effect of loneliness on online game addiction. Moderated mediation analyses using PROCESS confirmed that inter-personal competence significantly buffered the indirect effect of loneliness (through regulatory focus) on online game addiction. The findings indicated that inter-personal competence accounted for significant differences in the mediation models. Originality/value This study bridges the gap in the online game addiction literature by explaining how loneliness is associated with online game addiction.

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Resilience Moderates Negative Outcome from Stress during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Moderated-Mediation Approach

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph17186461 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (18) ◽

pp. 6461 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Audun Havnen ◽

Frederick Anyan ◽

Odin Hjemdal ◽

Stian Solem ◽

Maja Gurigard Riksfjord ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Indirect Effect ◽

Moderated Mediation ◽

Anxiety Symptoms ◽

Stress Exposure ◽

Mediation Analyses ◽

Symptoms Of Depression ◽

Moderated Mediation Model ◽

Treatment And Prevention ◽

Patient Health

Resilience refers to an individual’s healthy coping abilities when encountering adverse life events. The COVID-19 pandemic represents a situation with a high amount of stress exposure, which in turn may be associated with negative emotional outcome like depressive symptoms. The current study investigated if resilience moderated the effect of stress on symptoms of depression and if anxiety symptoms mediated this association. An adult sample of community controls completed the Perceived stress scale 14 (PSS-14), the Resilience scale for adults (RSA), the Patient health questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) and the Generalized anxiety disorder 7 (GAD-7). Independent samples t-test, correlation analyses and moderated mediation analyses were conducted. The results showed that resilience moderated the relations between stress and anxiety symptoms (β = −0.131, p < 0.001) as well as between stress and depressive symptoms (β = −0.068, p < 0.05). In support of a moderated mediation model, resilience moderated the indirect effect of stress on depressive symptom, as confirmed by the index of moderated mediation (IMM = −0.036, p < 0.001; [95% BCa: −0.055, −0.020]). The high resilience subgroup was less affected than the low resilience subgroup by the effect of stress exposure symptoms of depression, mediated by anxiety. The study shows that stress exposure is associated with symptoms of depression, and anxiety mediates this association. Level of resilience differentiates the direct and indirect effect of stress on depression. Knowledge about the effect of stress in response to a pandemic is important for developing treatment and prevention strategies for stress, depression and health-related anxiety.

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