TY  - EJOU
AU  - Ma, Siqi 
AU  - Zhang, Pei 

TI  - Interpersonal adjustment and depression in college students: The mediating effect of core self-evaluation and moderating effect of gender
T2  - Journal of Psychology in Africa

PY  - 2025
VL  - 35
IS  - 1
SN  - 1815-5626

AB  - This study aimed to explore how core self-evaluations and gender influence interpersonal adjustment and depression risk. Participants were 1748 college students (female = 59.73%, male = 40.27%, mean age = 18.71 years, SD = 0.78 years). The students completed the Interpersonal Adjustment Scale for College Students, Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, and Core Self-evaluation Scale. The results of Linear regression and mediated moderated effects modeling revealed that college students with higher interpersonal adjustment and core self-evaluation scores were at lower risk for depression. Core self-evaluation mediated the relationship between interpersonal adjustment and depression in college students for lower risk for depression. Gender moderated the relationship between interpersonal adjustment and core self-evaluation in college students for higher risk for depression in female students. From these findings, we conclude that interpersonal adjustment and core self-evaluation are significant for screening depression risk college students. Moreover, female students may benefit from targeted interventions aimed at their interpersonal adjustment for reducing their risk of depression.
KW  - college students; depression; interpersonal adjustment; core self-evaluation; gender

DO  - 10.32604/jpa.2025.065759