Abstract
Recent research has emphasized the crucial role of expressive flexibility in mental health. This study extended prior studies by further exploring the mediating mechanism and possible gender differences underlying the association between expressive flexibility and mental health indexed by depression and life satisfaction based on the dual-factor model of mental health. Specifically, we explored whether social support mediated the association between expressive flexibility and depression as well as life satisfaction, and whether there were gender differences in these relationships. A total of 711 voluntary college students (mean age = 20.98 years, SD = 2.28; 55.70% women) completed a set of scales assessing expressive flexibility, perceived social support, depression, and life satisfaction. Results showed that expressive flexibility had a positive direct effect on life satisfaction and social support mediated this association. Social support also mediated the relationship between expressive flexibility and depression. The mediation effect of social support was robust and consistent in men and women whereas expressive flexibility had a stronger direct effect on depression in women compared to men. The present study contributes to clarifying the relationship between expressive flexibility and mental health from a more comprehensive perspective. Last, the strengths and limitations of this study were discussed.
Highlights
With the rise and development of positive psychology [1], a more comprehensive understanding of mental health has emerged among researchers and the general public.Both theoretical and empirical studies suggested that research on mental health should not be limited to the elimination of mental illness, but should focus on positive wellness [2,3]
The bootstrapping method was applied, and the results showed that social support mediated the relationship between expressive flexibility and depression, with the indirect effect = −0.08, SE = 0.01, 95% confidence interval (CI) = [−0.12, −0.04], p < 0.001
The results revealed that social support mediated the relationship between expressive flexibility and life satisfaction, with the indirect effect = 0.10, SE = 0.03, 95% CI = [0.05, 0.15], p < 0.001, indicating that greater expressive flexibility was related to more support, and related to higher lifevia satisfacIn sum, the results showed thatsocial expressive flexibility predicted depression social tion
Summary
With the rise and development of positive psychology [1], a more comprehensive understanding of mental health has emerged among researchers and the general public. Both theoretical and empirical studies suggested that research on mental health should not be limited to the elimination of mental illness (e.g., depression), but should focus on positive wellness (e.g., life satisfaction) [2,3]. Few examined the possible positive link between expressive flexibility and positive aspects of mental health, such as life satisfaction. Based on the dual-factor model of mental health [2,11] and the social
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