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. 2024 Mar 13;24(1):794.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-18263-w.

The relationship between self-consciousness and depression in college students: the chain mediating effect of meaning life and self-efficacy, with the moderating effect of social support

Ye Yuan #  1   2   3 , Daili Wu #  4 , Zhongnong Chen #  5 , Daile Chen #  1 , Qiang Zhou  6 , Jaesik Jeong  7 , Yanling Tu  8   9
Affiliations

The relationship between self-consciousness and depression in college students: the chain mediating effect of meaning life and self-efficacy, with the moderating effect of social support

Ye Yuan et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: This study aimed to investigate the impact of self-consciousness on depression of college students, and mainly focus on confirming the mediator role of life meaningful and self-efficacy, as well as the moderator role of social support.

Methods: In the present study, convenient sampling method was adopted, 583 college students were recruited from Harbin city and Wenzhou city in China. All students were assessed using self-assessment scales, including self-consciousness scale, life meaningful scale, self-efficacy scale, social support scale, and self-rating depression scale. Descriptive statistical analysis and correlation analysis, structural equation model analysis were conducted by SPSS 25.0 and M-plus.

Results: Results showed that self-consciousness was negatively related to depression, life meaningful and self-efficacy partially mediated the relation between self-consciousness and depression. Moderated mediation analysis further indicated that the relation between self-efficacy and depression were moderated bu social support. Compare with college students who had high social support, depression in those with low social support was more susceptible to the effect of self-efficacy.

Conclusion: These findings imply that college students with low levels of self-consciousness are more easy to be depressive, enhancing their sense of life meaning and self-efficacy can effectively alleviate depression, and college student with high social support can benefit more from self-efficacy. Therefore we should pay more attention to the mental health problems of low levels self-consciousness college students in university.

Keywords: Depression; Life meaning; Self-consciousness; Self-efficacy; Social support.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Theoretical model
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The mediation model. Path values are the path coefficients. All path coefficients were standardized. ***p<0.001
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Depression as a function of self-efficacy and social support. The simple slope analysis indicated that social support moderated the relationship between self-efficacy and depression
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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