Abstract
The emerging adulthood represents a vulnerable and critical turning point for the beginning of mental illnesses and is therefore of particular interest for the study of risk and resilience. The present survey investigated the impact of sex on the associations between resilience and the perception of social support and stress in students. The Resilience Scale was used to assess resilience. Stress perception and social support perception were measured using the Perceived Stress Scale and the Social Support Questionnaire FSozU k-22, respectively. Between the ages of 18 and 30, 503 subjects (59.6% female) were included into the study. We detected a significant effect of sex with markedly lower resilience and a more pronounced perception of stress and social support among females. Significant correlations between resilience, stress perception, and social support perception were found in both sexes with women showing a stronger interrelationship between stress perception and both resilience and social support perception. Mediation analysis revealed that the relationship between the perception of social support and stress was fully mediated by resilience among men and partly mediated by resilience among women. Of note, the mediation of resilience on the interrelationship between the perception of social support and stress was much stronger in women than in men. These findings suggest that sex-specific, customized interventions focusing on the strengthening of resilience and the claiming of social support are needed to promote mental health in emerging adults.
Highlights
The emerging adulthood represents a vulnerable and critical turning point for the beginning of mental illnesses and is of particular interest for the study of risk and resilience
There were significant gender differences regarding the field of study; females more frequently studied psychology (36.0% vs. 20.2% in males), while males more often chose a field of study subsumed under “other subjects”, e.g., technical subjects or sciences (25.8% vs. 10.3% in females)
We found a significant interaction between resilience and sex (β = − 0.22, p = 0.013), while no significant effect of the interaction between social support perception and sex was observed (β = − 0.12, p = 0.169)
Summary
Students from local universities between the ages of 18 and 30 years were recruited via the campus networks. Healthy volunteers without a history of mental health disorders or psychopharmacological treatment were included into a crosssectional online survey They were native German speakers and signed informed consent forms in accordance with the local ethics committee. Items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale (0, never; 4, very often) (range, 0–56) with higher scores indicating higher levels of perceived stress. Social support perception was assessed with the 22-item short form of the Fragebogen zur sozialen Unterstützung (FSozU K-22) (Fydrich et al 2007). This highly reliable (Cronbach’s α = 0.91) and valid questionnaire encompasses the following areas: emotional support (10 items), practical support (5 items), social integration (7 items), satisfaction with social support (2 items), and availability of a confidential person (2 items) (double assignment of four items). A mean item score was calculated to evaluate overall social support such that a higher score indicates a higher perception of social support
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