Relationship between just world belief and depression of college students: the multiple mediators of hope and forgiveness

Abstract

Objective To explore the mechanism of the influence of just world belief on depression in college students, and to explore the multiple mediating effects of hope and forgiveness. Methods Totally 290 college students were assessed by belief in a just world scale(BJWS), adult dispositional hope scale(ADHS), Hearland forgiveness scale(HFS) and self-rating depression scale(SDS). Results The scores of the belief in a just world, hope, forgiveness and depression were 53.90±7.83, 33.67±3.87, 109.75±12.52 and 16.84±8.41, respectively.The belief in a just world was positively correlated with hope(r=0.41, P<0.01) and forgiveness(r=0.40, P<0.01), and negatively correlated with depression(r=-0.38, P<0.01). Hope was positively correlated with forgiveness(r=0.43, P<0.01), and negatively correlated with depression(r=-0.53, P<0.01). Forgiveness had a significantly negative correlation with depression(r=-0.57, P<0.01). Structural equation model showed that the direct effect of the belief in a just world on depression was not statistically significant.The belief in a just world can influence depression by multiple mediators of hope(the effective amount=0.26), hope→forgiveness(the effective amount=0.20), and the model fitted well(χ2/df=1.63, RMSEA=0.04, GFI=0.96, NFI=0.98, CFI=0.99). Conclusion The belief in a just world can influence depression by multiple mediators role of hope, hope→forgiveness. Key words: Just world belief; Hope; Forgiveness; Depression; Multiple mediation