Expressive Flexibility and Mental Health: The Mediating Role of Social Support and Gender Differences

Abstract

Recent research has emphasized the crucial role of expressive flexibility in mental health. This study extended prior studies by further exploring the mediating mechanism and possible gender differences underlying the association between expressive flexibility and mental health indexed by depression and life satisfaction based on the dual-factor model of mental health. Specifically, we explored whether social support mediated the association between expressive flexibility and depression as well as life satisfaction, and whether there were gender differences in these relationships. A total of 711 voluntary college students (mean age = 20.98 years, SD = 2.28; 55.70% women) completed a set of scales assessing expressive flexibility, perceived social support, depression, and life satisfaction. Results showed that expressive flexibility had a positive direct effect on life satisfaction and social support mediated this association. Social support also mediated the relationship between expressive flexibility and depression. The mediation effect of social support was robust and consistent in men and women whereas expressive flexibility had a stronger direct effect on depression in women compared to men. The present study contributes to clarifying the relationship between expressive flexibility and mental health from a more comprehensive perspective. Last, the strengths and limitations of this study were discussed.

Perceived Social Support and Psychological Distress among Healthcare Professionals during COVID-19

“…During pandemic, almost all healthcare professionals were exposed to same vulnerabilities and circumstances regardless of their gender. This must have contributed to similar pattern of social support across male and female participants, which falls in line with findings conducted in other countries reporting no significant gender differences with reference to levels of social support (Shangguan et al, 2022). Even though the findings are insignificant, the slight difference could be explained in context of findings of previous research reporting females having higher levels of social support available to them during COVID-19 (Guo et al, 2021).…”

Influence of social support on subjective well-being of patients with chronic diseases in China: chain-mediating effect of self-efficacy and perceived stress

“…In the current study, SPSS 25 ( 46 ) (IBM, Armonk, NY, United States) and Model 6 of PROCESS Macro ( 47 ) were used to analyze the survey data. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the sample characteristics.…”

Age and gender differences in expressive flexibility and the association with depressive symptoms in adolescents

“…Existing evidence suggests that the ability to both enhance and suppress outward expressions is associated with positive interpersonal outcomes (e.g., better friend-rated adjustment, life satisfaction, health-related quality of life, and peer acceptance). It is also associated with negative intrapersonal outcomes (e.g., lower friendship quality, distress, post-traumatic stress disorder, and anxiety; Bonanno et al, 2004 ; Westphal et al, 2010 ; Rodin et al, 2016 ; Strickland and Skolnick, 2020 ; Wang et al, 2020 ; Lenzo et al, 2021 ; Sardella et al, 2021 ; Shangguan et al, 2022 ; Wang et al, 2022 ). Furthermore, deficits in this ability in adults are associated with social anxiety ( Maccallum et al, 2021 ), complicated grief ( Gupta and Bonanno, 2011 ), and in patients diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease ( Henry et al, 2009 ) or schizophrenia ( Henry et al, 2007 ).…”