Predictor and Moderator Effects of Ego Resilience and Mindfulness on the Relationship Between Academic Stress and Psychological Well-Being in a Sample of Ghanaian College Students

Abstract

This study examined the predictor and moderator effects of ego resilience and mindfulness on the relationship between academic stress and psychological well-being in a sample of Ghanaian college students (N = 431). The results indicated that academic stress was positively associated with both anxiety and depression and that mindfulness and ego resilience were both negatively associated with anxiety and depression. Mindfulness buffered the positive relationship between academic stress and depression but not anxiety. In contrast, ego resilience buffered the positive relationship between academic

Adolescent stress and symptoms of anxiety and depression: Resilience explains and differentiates the relationships

“…As expected, stress was positively associated with symptoms of anxiety, and depression. This is consistent with previous studies of anxiety (Byrne et al, 2007;Cole et al, 2014;McLaughlin and Hatzenbuehler, 2009) and depression (Bouma et al, 2008;Cole et al, 2014;Grant et al, 2004b;Tram and Cole, 2000). When resilience was taken into account as a mediator it was found that higher levels of stress were associated with lower levels of resilience, which in turn was positively associated with anxiety and depressive symptoms.…”

“…Mindfulness moderated the relationship between stress and depression but not anxiety while ego resilience moderated the relationship between stress and anxiety but not depression. Simple slope analysis showed the effect of stress on depression was significantly higher for low levels of mindfulness than for high levels of mindfulness while the effect of stress on anxiety was significantly higher for low levels of ego resilience than for high levels of ego resilience (Cole et al, 2014).…”

“…A recent study (Cole et al, 2014) in Ghana found a positive relationship between stress of academic performance, and anxiety and depression but negatively related to mindfulness and ego resilience. Mindfulness was defined as being aware of what is taking place in the present (Brown and Ryan, 2003) and ego resilience was defined as ability to overcome obstacles and engage the world in a positive way with openness to experience (Block and Kremen, 1996).…”

From Life’s Difficulties to Posttraumatic Growth: How Do We Get There?

“…Mindfulness interventions have been applied to relieve caregiver stress in working with individuals with autism (Ruiz-Robledillo, Sariñana-González, Pérez-Blasco, González-Bono, & Moya-Albiol, 2015), to increase well-being in college students (Cole et al, 2015), to facilitate emotional regulation (Fogarty, Lu, Sollers, Krivoschekov, Booth, & Consedine, 2015). Relevant to this study, the effects of mindfulness have been used in regards to traumatic experience.…”

“…A student population is relevant to the current study, because previous studies have shown that students go through a variety of traumatic events, including bereavement (Burke, 2010) and elevated stress (Hindman, Glass, Arnkoff, & Maron, 2015). Due to these types of concerns, students are more vulnerable to mental health concerns (American Psychiatric Association, 2013), and as a result of academic stress are more susceptible to depression and anxiety (Cole et al, 2015). Students will often have been exposed to a variety of arduous life experiences, academic or otherwise, that may be perceived as difficult or traumatic.…”