Psychological Capital Factors Play the Multiple Mediation Role between Interpersonal Sensitivity and Depressive Symptoms among College Students

Abstract

Current interpersonal sensitivity among college students is easily linked to mood disorders such as anxiety, depression and other mood disorders. This study aims to examine the mediating role of psychological capital and its dimensions in the relationship between interpersonal sensitivity and depressive symptoms among college students. The cross-sectional survey was conducted across six Chinese universities between November and December 2022. The questionnaire consists of the Interpersonal Sensitivity sub-scale, the Patient Health Questionnaire, the Psychological Capital Questionnaire and the Socio-Demographic Feature Questionnaire. A total of 2580 respondents participated in the survey, with the majority being females (69.73%) and an average age of 19.22 ± 1.28 years. Descriptive and correlation analyses were performed using SPSS v24.0, while direct and indirect effects were analyzed using PROCESS v3.4 macro. The findings revealed that interpersonal sensitivity had a significant direct effect on depression symptoms among college students (β = 0.416, 95% Boot CI [0.380, 0.453], p < 0.001) Additionally, psychological capital and its components were found to be negatively correlated with depression (p < 0.001). Further analysis demonstrated that hope, resilience, and optimism significantly mediated the association between interpersonal sensitivity and depressive symptoms (indirect effect: hope = 0.056, resilience = 0.099, optimism = 0.074; p < 0.001 for all). These results suggest that psychological capital, including its dimensions of hope, resilience and optimism, plays a crucial role in mitigating the negative effects of interpersonal sensitivity on depressive symptoms in college students.