Social exclusion and depression among college students: A moderated mediation model of psychological capital and implicit theories

摘要

Although social exclusion has been shown to play an important role in depression, little is known about mediating and moderating mechanisms underlying this relation among college students. Based on conservation of resources theory and hopelessness theory of depression, the current study investigated the mediating role of psychological capital and the moderating role of implicit theories in the relation between social exclusion and depression. Five hundred and fifty-three Chinese college students filled out questionnaires regarding social exclusion, depression, psychological capital and implicit theories. After gender and age were controlled, social exclusion was significantly and positively associated with depression. Mediation analysis revealed that psychological capital partially mediated the association between social exclusion and depression. Moderated mediation analysis further indicated that the indirect effect of social exclusion on depression was moderated by implicit theories. The indirect path was only significant for entity theorists but not for incremental theorists. These findings may help to design effective psychological interventions for college students with higher level of depression.