Positive Adult Support and Depression Symptoms in Adolescent Females: The Partially Mediating Role of Eating Disturbances

AbstractObjectiveMigrating implies a high level of stress that may destabilise immigrants’ mental health. The sense of spiritual fulfilment (feelings of faith, religiosity, and transcendence beyond ordinary material life) can mitigate the stress and benefit mental health. The objective of the present study was to analyze the relationship between migratory stress, religiosity and depression symptoms, as well as the mediating role of religiosity between migratory stress and depression symptoms.MethodParticipants were 295 Latin American immigrants living in Barcelona (Spain), 186 of whom (63.1%) were women and 109 (36.9%) were men. They were recruited from a Spanish NGO by means of a consecutive-case method.ResultsThe results showed an inverse relationship between religiosity and depression symptoms, but only in women. Likewise, in women, the sense of spiritual fulfilment had mediating value in buffering the relationship between stress and depression symptoms. This mediating value of spiritual fulfilment was not observed in men. For both genders religiosity was inversely related with stress. In addition, it was observed that the sense of religiosity decreases as the time since immigration passes.ConclusionsThese results may be of importance in clinical practice for prevention and therapeutic intervention with Latin American immigrants. As sense of transcendence and social support from the religious community are intertwined, it is difficult to specifically attribute the observed benefit of religiosity to the former versus the later.

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Addressing Depression Symptoms among University Students under COVID-19 Restrictions—The Mediating Role of Stress and the Moderating Role of Resilience

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph182312752 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (23) ◽

pp. 12752

Author(s):

Chang Liu ◽

Melinda McCabe ◽

Sebastian Kellett-Renzella ◽

Shruthi Shankar ◽

Nardin Gerges ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

University Students ◽

Social Isolation ◽

Perceived Stress ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Depression Symptoms ◽

Targeted Interventions ◽

Mediating Role ◽

Moderating Role

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to a decline in mental health globally. Compared to the general population, university students have been identified as a group vulnerable to developing depression symptoms during the pandemic. Social isolation, a signature mental health consequence under physical-distancing regulations, is a known predictor of depression symptoms during the pandemic. Yet, more research is required to understand the mechanism that underpins the isolation–depression association and identify psychological factors that may attenuate the association. The current study aimed to understand the role of stress and resilience in the isolation–depression association among university students. Methods: Data were collected from 1718 university students between 28 and 31 May 2020. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to examine the mediating role of perceived stress and the moderating role of resilience in the isolation–depression association. Results: We found that perceived stress partially mediated the association between social isolation and depression symptoms. Both the direct and indirect effects were moderated by participants’ resilience levels. Conclusions: Social isolation during the pandemic may contribute to depression symptoms both directly and through elevated stress levels. As an internal strength, resilience may buffer the adverse effects of isolation and stress on depression symptoms. Targeted interventions including mindfulness and physical exercise training may provide promising results in reducing depression symptoms among university students and should be considered by university administrators particularly during times of imposed physical-distancing measures.

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