Ostracism, Psychological Capital, Perceived Social Support and Depression among Economically Disadvantaged Youths: A Moderated Mediation Model

Abstract

Mental health promotion of economically disadvantaged youths is a popular issue in current China. Economically disadvantaged youths are at greater risk of depression. Ostracism may be an important predictor of depression for them. However, no consensus has been reached on the underlying mechanism between ostracism and depression. A total of 1207 economically disadvantaged youths were recruited from six universities in China. These youths were asked to complete questionnaires measuring depression, ostracism, psychological capital, and perceived social support. A moderated mediation model was examined by using IBM SPSS STATISTICS 27macro program PROCESS version 3.5, in which psychological capital was a mediating variable, and perceived social support was a moderating variable. Lack of causal inferences and self-report bias due to the cross-sectional and self-report survey need to be considered when interpreting results. The results revealed that ostracism was positively associated with depression among economically disadvantaged youths. Psychological capital partially mediated the association. Perceived social support moderated the indirect association between ostracism and depression via psychological capital among economically disadvantaged females. Training and intentional practice of psychological capital could be the core to develop the depression interventions targeting economically disadvantaged youths with experience of ostracism. Gender and perceived social support need to be considered in developing the interventions.