The Moderating Role of Grit in the Relationship Between Perfectionism and Depression Among Chinese College Students

Cultural foundations of teacher occupational health: the impact of confucian work dynamism on burnout through grit among Chinese teachers

BACKGROUND

Previous research predominantly focused on burnout's proximal antecedents, with less known about distant influences such as cultural values. Confucian values, integral to Chinese culture, advocate for diligence and long-term commitment, potentially safeguarding against burnout by enhancing resilience and a robust work ethic. This study aims to examine the impact of Confucian Work Dynamism on teacher burnout through two facets of grit, which encompasses interest consistency and perseverance of effort.

METHOD

Utilizing a cross-sectional survey, 304 valid responses were collected from primary and secondary school teachers in China. The study employed descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) for data analysis.

RESULTS

Findings indicate a positive correlation between Confucian Work Dynamism and the perseverance of effort facet of Grit, while no significant correlation was found with interest consistency. Both facets of Grit were negatively associated with burnout, with perseverance of effort mediating the relationship between Confucian Work Dynamism and burnout.

CONCLUSION

Confucian Work Dynamism, particularly through perseverance of effort, serves as a protective factor against burnout. This study highlights the importance of cultural values in occupational well-being and suggests that interventions in collectivist cultures should continue to encourage a high level of persistence of effort while promoting greater consistency of interests.

Dysfunctional attitudes, social support, negative life events, and depressive symptoms in Chinese adolescents: A moderated mediation model

BACKGROUND

Depression is a prevalent psychological issue in adolescents that is significantly related to negative life events (NLEs) and dysfunctional attitudes. High levels of social support can significantly buffer NLEs' effect on depression. Currently, there is limited research on how social support moderates the relationship between NLEs, dysfunctional attitudes, and depression in adolescents in China. It is imperative to investigate this moderating effect to mitigate dysfunctional attitudes in adolescent undergoing depressive mood, ultimately enhancing their overall mental health.

AIM

To investigate the relationship and underlying mechanisms between specific dysfunctional attitudes, social support, and depression among Chinese adolescents.

METHODS

This is a cross-sectional study which selected five middle schools in Shandong Province for investigation in March 2022. Participants included 795 adolescents (49.87% male, mage = 15.15, SD = 1.84, age range = 11-18 years old). All participants completed the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale, Adolescent Life Event Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, and Social Support Rating Scale. A moderated mediation model was conducted to examine the relationship between specific dysfunctional attitudes, social support, and depression.

RESULTS

Results indicated that NLEs affected depression through the mediating role of specific dysfunctional attitudes (autonomy attitudes β = 0.21; perfectionism β = 0.25). Moreover, social support was found to moderate the mediating effect between NLEs, specific dysfunctional attitudes, and depressive symptoms (autonomy attitudes b2 = -0.08; perfectionism b2 = -0.09).

CONCLUSION

Dysfunctional attitudes mediated and social support moderated the relationship between NLEs and depression. Social support can buffer depression symptoms among adolescents with autonomy attitudes and perfectionism.

Association between Grit and depressive symptoms at the timing of job start among medical residents during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan: a cross-sectional study

INTRODUCTION

The COVID-19 pandemic had an additional negative impact on the mental health of healthcare workers, including residents. Previous studies revealed that grit, which is an individual trait to achieve long-term goals unrelated to intelligence quotient, is not only positively associated with academic achievement and career success but also negatively correlated with depression. This study aimed to examine the association between grit and depressive symptoms among residents at the time of job start during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Japan.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This cross-sectional study used data from all post-graduate year 1 residents from March 2020 to April 2022 at Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan. Grit was measured by the Japanese version of Grit-S. The resident's depressive symptoms were assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. The association of interest was examined using logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS

Among 221 residents, 28 (12.7%) have depressive symptoms. One unit increase in Grit-S score after adjusting for age, sex, graduated university, and sleeping hours was associated with lower odds of having depressive symptoms by 63% (odds ratio [OR]: 0.37; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.19-0.74). Further, the perseverance of effort subscale score was associated with lower odds of having depressive symptoms after covariate adjustment (OR: 0.43; 95% CI: 0.22-0.84).

CONCLUSIONS

Higher grit scores were associated with lower odds of having depressive symptoms among residents at the timing of job start during the COVID-19 pandemic. Regular mental health assessment is particularly important for residents with low grit scores at entry.

Parenting styles and obsessive-compulsive symptoms in college students: the mediating role of perfectionism

Introduction

Obsessive-compulsive symptoms is a common psychological phenomenon among early adulthood college students, which are closely related to their parents' parenting styles. Theoretical and some empirical studies have suggested the mediating role of perfectionism in this process, but this has not been confirmed, and the binary perspective of positive-negative perfectionism has not been addressed in this issue.

Methods

This study aimed to investigate the mediating role of perfectionism in the relationship between parenting styles and obsessive-compulsive symptoms among college students. A total of 661 college students participated in this study.

Results

Negative perfectionism mediated the relationship between negative parenting style and obsessive-compulsive symptoms among college students. Negative parenting style predicted obsessive-compulsive symptoms through its positive predictive effect on negative perfectionism. However, the mediating effect of positive perfectionism was not significant in this process.

Discussion

This study provides further evidence of the mechanisms underlying the occurrence of obsessive-compulsive symptoms, and offers new ideas for interventions for OCD.

English-learning stress and performance in Chinese college students: A serial mediation model of academic anxiety and academic burnout and the protective effect of grit

Introduction

Having to adapt to a new environment with various other challenges while completing their studies, Chinese college students experience intense stress related to the study of the English language. However, there has been little research on the serial mediating mechanism of English-learning stress on English academic performance.

Methods

Present study recruited 1130 undergraduate students to finish self-report online questionnaire to collect the information about their English-learning stress, academic anxiety and burnout, English academic performance and grit. We constructed a moderated serial mediation model to test the effect of academic anxiety and academic burnout and explored whether grit can restrict the decrease in academic performance caused by English-learning stress.

Results

Results show that: (1) both academic anxiety and academic burnout mediate the relationship between English-learning stress and performance; (2) academic anxiety and academic burnout show a significant serial mediating role between academic pressure and English academic performance; and (3) grit significantly moderates the relationship between academic burnout and English academic performance.

Discussion

These results lead us to believe that cultivating the grit of Chinese college students may be an effective way to improve the academic performance of those experiencing high English-learning stress.

Antecedents and Consequences of Grit Among Working Adults: A Transpersonal Psychology Perspective

Positive psychology has paved the way for newer and more informed ideas of living a meaningful, integrated and well-rounded quality of living. The current era of the pandemic has also moulded the ways in which individuals perceive their quality of life and how they want to integrate a holistic approach towards their well-being. The workplace settings have seen tremendous changes in terms of how employers, employees and the organisations at large function and operate. The pre-pandemic concept of success has shifted its focus from hard work to developing grit among employees to increase the overall efficiency of the organisations. Grit has revolutionised the conventional standards of success, meaning in life and has impacted personal as well as occupational welfare. This integration of positive psychology and transpersonal psychology has catalysed the purpose for the current study. To help organisations and individuals thrive in their professional endeavours at the workplace and to provide them with relevant psychological tools to enhance their occupational growth, the present study has been conducted empirically to investigate the antecedents and consequences of grit among 209 working professionals in India. The results of this study indicate that the transpersonal capital of metacognition, flow, optimism and empathy have a significant role to play in developing grit among the participants. The findings have implications for enhancing job satisfaction and job performance of participants. The current research also provides a framework to organisations towards designing interventions for improving efficiency at the workplace.

Grit and Life Satisfaction Among College Students During the Recurrent Outbreak of COVID-19 in China: The Mediating Role of Depression and the Moderating Role of Stressful Life Events

The global recurrent outbreak of COVID-19 has brought immense psychological distress to those affected. We conducted this study to explore the relationship among grit, stressful life events, depression, and life satisfaction in college students during the recurrent outbreak of COVID-19. According to the properties of the bias-corrected bootstrap method, we surveyed 888 college students, with an average age of 20.84 (SD = 1.57) years. Participants completed questionnaires regarding grit, depression, stressful life events, and life satisfaction. The results showed that 1) grit was correlated with life satisfaction (r = 0.426, p < 0.001); 2) depression mediated the relationship between grit and life satisfaction [indirect effect = 0.0292, SE = 0.009, 95% CIboot = (0.135, 0.500)]; 3) The relationship between grit and depression was moderated by stressful life events (β = 0.107, SE = 0.028, p < 0.001, 95% CI [0.053, 0.161]). The association between grit and depression became weaker for college students with high stressful life events. The results indicated that concerned about depression and stressful life events may be the main targets for improving life satisfaction among college students during the recurrent outbreak of COVID-19.