Depression As A Mediator In The Relationship Between Perceived Familial Criticism And College Adaptation

Keywords

College adaptation; criticism; depression; emerging adults

Abstract

Objective: This study examined relationships among emerging adults' perceived familial criticism, their depressive symptoms, and their college adaptation. Participants: The current study examined the responses of 412 emerging adults (300 females and 112 males) who were college students at a large southeastern university. The majority of these emerging adults were Caucasian, but the remainder were from a broad range of racial backgrounds. Methods: Participants completed the Family Emotional Involvement and Criticism Scale as a measure of their familial criticism, the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire as a measure of their college adaptation, and the Beck Depression Inventory-Second Edition as a measure of their depression. Results: Results were examined using correlational and regression analyses in the context of Baron and Kenny's (J Pers Soc Psychol. 1986;51:1173–1182) method for determining mediation. Results suggested that for female emerging adults, the relationship between perceived familial criticism and college adaptation was mediated significantly by depressive symptoms. In contrast, this pattern of results did not hold for male emerging adults. Conclusions: Given these findings, emerging adults' depressive symptoms may serve as a useful proximal target for psychotherapeutic interventions meant to improve adaptation to college (particularly for female emerging adults), even in the context of high levels of perceived familial criticism from emerging adults' family of origin.

Publication Date

11-16-2016

Publication Title

Journal of American College Health

Volume

64

Issue

8

Number of Pages

604-612

Document Type

Article

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2016.1210612

Socpus ID

84982786963 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/84982786963

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