Interpersonal adjustment and depression in college students: mediation of core self-evaluation and moderating effects of gender

Abstract

Background With the high incidence of college student suicides due to depression, it is critical to understand the factors that influence depression in college students. This study addresses the interconnected relationships among interpersonal adjustment, depression, core self-evaluation and gender among college students. Objectives This study aims is to explore how college students’ interpersonal adjustment is to influence and provide due insights for effective interventions for college students’ depression. Methodology We used the Interpersonal Adjustment Scale for College Students, Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scales, and the Core Self-Evaluation Scale, and recruited 1920 college students to fill out the questionnaire, and finally obtained 1748 valid participants. Results The results showed that college students’ interpersonal adjustment and core self-evaluation negatively predicted depression, and core self-evaluation mediated the relationship between college students’ interpersonal adjustment and depression. While gender moderated the relationship between college students’ interpersonal adjustment and core self-evaluation. Conclusions and implications Interpersonal adjustment and core self-evaluation can serve as significant predictors of depression in college students. Moreover, interpersonal adjustment has a significantly higher effect on depression among female college students than male college students. Based on the results of the study, we proposes to enhance the college students’ interpersonal and core self-evaluation adaptability to cope with the problem of college students’ depression, and we should pay more attention to female college students.