Gratitude and depressive symptoms in Chinese nurses: A longitudinal cross‐lagged study

Abstract

Nurses have a relatively higher rate of depressive symptoms compared to other people. Previous studies have reported that gratitude is correlated with depressive symptoms among healthcare workers. The purpose of this study was to explore the causal relationship between gratitude and depressive symptoms among Chinese nurses. We collected data over 4 months, with 393 nurses at Time 1 and 241 at Time 2. All participants completed online questionnaires. We employed the structural equation models to test the hypotheses.The results revealed that gratitude at Time 1 could predict depressive symptoms at Time 2, and depressive symptoms at Time 1 could predict gratitude at Time 2. These results remained significant after controlling for gender, age, education, marital status, professional title, general positive affect, and negative affect. The findings provide initial evidence about the causal relationship between gratitude and depressive symptoms among Chinese nurses. Hospital administrators can intervene in depressive symptoms of nurses by developing gratitude interventions. Furthermore, nurses with lower levels of depressive symptoms feel more grateful.

More grateful, less addicted! Understanding how gratitude affects online gaming addiction among Chinese college students: a three-wave multiple mediation model

“…Furthermore, this result further supports the broadenand-build theory proposed by Fredrickson [22]. In detail, gratitude can help people alleviate negative emotions [59] and build personal lasting positive resources, such as selfesteem [60], enhance well-being [61] and life satisfaction [62]. These resources are critical to overcoming game addiction for young people.…”

Leaving Past Adversities Behind: Gratitude Intervention Compensates for the Undesirable Effects of Past Time Perspectives on Negative Affect

“…According to theory and research, gratitude has favorable effects on well-being indicators [17,18]. In the light of recent studies, gratitude appears to be positively correlated with positive affect, happiness, and life satisfaction and negatively correlated with negative affect and depressive symptoms [19,20]. The gratitude list, in which subjects identify three to five items they were grateful for during the day, is one of the treatments that has been most thoroughly applied and studied [21,22].…”

How does gratitude relate to nurses' job satisfaction? The mediating role of resilience and stress

“…An example item is "I am grateful to many people." Previous studies have shown that the GQ-6 exhibits strong reliability and validity (Hao et al, 2022). In this study, Cronbach's alpha coefficient was .764.…”

“…Participants rated their extent of agreement with statements using a 7‐point scale ranging from 1 ( totally disagree ) to 7 ( totally agree ). An example item is “I am grateful to many people.” Previous studies have shown that the GQ‐6 exhibits strong reliability and validity (Hao et al., 2022). In this study, Cronbach's alpha coefficient was .764.…”