Polysocial risk score and depressive symptoms of college students in a northwest Chinese city: The mediating role of resilience.

BACKGROUND

Limited data exists on the association between social factors and depressive symptoms (DS) among college students. This study aimed to investigate associations between polysocial risk score (PsRS) and the mediating effects of resilience.

METHODS

A total of 1234 college students were selected from three universities in Ningxia, China, by stratified cluster sampling. Questionnaires were utilized to gather data on DS (PHQ-9 scale), resilience (CD-RISC scale), and social risk factors. Generalized linear models, restricted cubic splines, and quantile regression models were used to analyze the relationship between PsRS and DS. Additionally, mediation analysis was applied to estimate the mediating effect of resilience.

RESULTS

The findings indicated that resilience is negatively correlated with DS and PsRS, while the PsRS is positively correlated with DS. Behavioral lifestyles - polysocial risk score (BL-PsRS) is the main contributor to the adverse effects of total - polysocial risk score (T-PsRS) on DS. We also observed linear dose-response associations between PsRS and DS. Resilience mediated the relationship between PsRS and DS.

LIMITATIONS: The study's cross-sectional design makes it difficult to establish causality between variables.

CONCLUSIONS

This study finds that PsRS significantly impacts DS among college students, and resilience evidence supports the notion that it negatively moderates the relationship. Therefore, strengthening health education for college students, guiding them to develop positive cognition, and enhancing their optimistic attitude in dealing with negative life events can prevent DS.