Gratitude and internalizing/externalizing symptoms among adolescents after the Wenchuan earthquake: Mediating roles of social support and resilience

Abstract

Introduction Adolescents are susceptible to exhibiting internalizing and externalizing symptoms following natural disasters. However, little is known regarding factors that may influence these symptoms from the perspective of positive psychology. The current study examined whether and how social support and resilience mediated the association between gratitude and adolescents' internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Method The participants were 765 Chinese adolescents exposed to the Wenchuan earthquake (41.8% male, mean age 17.46 years), who were enrolled in a three‐wave longitudinal study with data spanning 1 year. All adolescents completed self‐report questionnaires on gratitude at 18 months postearthquake (T18m), social support and resilience at 24 months (T24m), and internalizing and externalizing symptoms at 18 months (T18m) and 30 months (T30m). Results The results showed that social support (T24m) and resilience (T24m) serially mediate the relationship between gratitude (T18m) and internalizing (β = −.003, 95% confidence interval [CI]= −0.006, −0.001) or externalizing (T30m) symptoms (β = −.004, 95% CI= −0.004, −0.001). Social support (T24m) acts as a mediator only between gratitude (T18m) and internalizing symptoms (T30m) (β = −.021, 95% CI = −0.044, −0.004), while not being a significant predictor for externalizing symptoms (T30m). Conclusion By highlighting the mechanisms by which gratitude longitudinally attenuates adolescents' internalizing, externalizing, and total symptoms, our findings may provide clinical practitioners with important information regarding intervention design.

Gratitude and psychological distress among first-year college students: The mediating roles of perceived social support and support provision.

“…For instance, recent studies have shown that frontline medical staff (Feng & Yin, 2021), software engineers (Butler & Jaffe, 2021), and Chinese community adults ( M age = 44.74 years, SD = 17.54; Jiang, 2022) with higher levels of gratitude reported higher levels of psychological well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, past studies have found evidence of gratitude’s role in mitigating stress during a wide range of stressful events, such as earthquakes (Lies et al, 2014; Wang et al, 2022) and hurricanes (McCanlies et al, 2018). It is beyond the scope and feasibility of this study to compare whether gratitude’s protective effects are stronger between first-year college students during the COVID-19 pandemic and among those during nonpandemic times, but it is likely that the mental health benefits of gratitude would apply to all individuals who are adjusting to new situations.…”

Gratitude and Quality of Life in a Personalist and Existential Approach

“…There is growing evidence that gratitude is related to social support (e.g. Wang, Chen, Zhai, Fan, 2022;Deichert, Fekete, Craven, 2021;Feng, Yin, 2021). A higher level of gratitude also reduces aggression (DeWall, Lambert, pond, Kashdan, Fincham, 2012).…”