An Exploration of the Relationship between Psychological Capital and Depression among First-Year Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Students

Abstract

This study examined the impact of psychological capital on depressive symptoms among Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) students (n=84) over their first two semesters of studies. Our results indicated elevated rates of depression in both the first and second semesters relative to published norms. Using the typology developed by Hafen, Reisbig, White, and Rush (2008), students were classified as either "adaptive" (i.e., improving depressive symptomatology from semester to semester) or "struggling" (i.e., worsening depressive symptomatology from semester to semester). All four components of psychological capital (i.e., self-esteem, optimism, hope, and resilience) were positively associated with adaptive response to depression. These results are significant, as the components of psychological capital can be learned and strengthened through deliberate interventions, providing tangible guidance for students, faculty, and health professionals in their efforts to improve student wellness.

The Influence of Entrepreneurs’ Psychological Capital on Their Deviant Innovation Behavior

“…Zhang et al (2017) , based on social cognition and social exchange theory, found that customer psychological capital had a greater impact on knowledge sharing behavior in the virtual innovation community ( Zhang et al, 2017 ); Bakker et al (2017) discussed the influence of psychological capital on depression symptoms of veterinary students, and concluded that the components of psychological capital could be learned and strengthened through relevant interventions ( Bakker et al, 2017 ); Yim et al (2017) discussed and analyzed the mediating role of psychological capital in occupational stress and turnover intention of nurses, and the results indicated that psychological capital had some mediating role in the stress and turnover intention of nurses ( Yim et al, 2017 ); Cuadra-Peralta et al (2018) explored the relationship between psychological capital and the expected attitude of employees in state-owned and private enterprises, and found that there was a significant positive correlation between psychological capital and expected attitude, as well as a significant correlation between psychological capital and job satisfaction ( Cuadra-Peralta et al, 2018 ); Yang and Yang (2019) , according to the investigation and analysis of the employees of small and medium-sized venture capital companies in South Korea, found that the actual leadership of the CEO could significantly improve the positive psychological capital of employees of small and medium-sized enterprises ( Yang and Yang, 2019 ).…”

The Efficacy of Psychological Capital Intervention (PCI) for Depression From the Perspective of Positive Psychology: A Pilot Study

“…Psychological capital is composed of: (1) hope: persevering toward goals and when necessary, redirecting paths to goals in order to succeed; (2) self-efficacy: having confidence to succeed a challenging tasks; (3) optimism: making a positive attribution regarding succeeding now and in the future; (4) resiliency: when beset by problems and adversity, sustaining and bouncing back and even beyond to attain success (Luthans and Youssef, 2004; Luthans et al, 2007a). Recent research demonstrated that PsyCap was significantly related to symptoms of depression (Bakker et al, 2017). In addition, evidences indicated that PsyCap can significantly moderated the associations of depression and stress, could be a positive resource for combating depression (Liu et al, 2012; Shen et al, 2014).…”

Influence of Psychological Capital Construction on the Comprehensive Quality of Higher Education

“…Although it exhibits different stability at different time and circumstances, it can still be optimized over a long period of time (Fotiadou, Barlow, Powell et al, 2010). Researches show that the interaction of individual optimism and state can collectively affect individual behavior and performance (Bakker, Lyons, & Conlon, 2017). The mechanism of action of psychological capital construction and optimistic emotion on comprehensive quality is shown in Figure 3.…”