Suicide is a public health problem and complex relationships exist between intrapersonal suicide risk factors and interpersonal risk factors. Health-related quality of life (HRQL) may interact with difficulties with interpersonal relationships and psychopathology. We examined thwarted interpersonal needs and depressive symptoms as potential mediators on the association between HRQL and suicidal behaviors. It was hypothesized that thwarted interpersonal needs would mediate the association between HRQL and suicidal behavior, and that this mediating effect would be dependent on the moderating effect of depressive symptoms. It was hypothesized that thwarted interpersonal needs and then depressive symptoms would sequentially mediate the association between HRQL and suicidal behavior. The mediating roles of thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness on the association between HRQL and suicidal behaviors were supported. Moderated-mediation results were not significant. Serial mediations analyses were partially supported. Our findings suggest the importance of considering both interand intrapersonal factors on suicidal behavior.

There are studies that found parental psychological control was related to children’s antisocial behavior (e.g., Kuppens, Grietens, Onghena, & Michiels, 2009; Soenes, Vansteenkiste, Goossens, Duriez, & Niemiec, 2008) and other psychological outcomes such as self-esteem and depressive symptoms (e.g., Costa, Soenens, Gugliandolo, Cuzzocrea, & Larcan, 2015; Inguglia et al., 2016; Kline, Killoren, & Alfaro, 2016); however, it is hard to find studies examining how all those variables are dynamically related. The current study aims to examine if parental psychological control during adolescence is related to children’ antisocial behaviors (e.g., social/relational aggression) during college as well as if this association is mediated by children’s social self-esteem and/or depressive symptoms. In addition to examining the dynamic among these variables, the current study is expected to contribute by examining the role of paternal psychological control as well as maternal psychological control. The majority of studies of parental psychological control and children’s outcomes only focus on maternal psychological control findings (e.g., Valdes, Laursen, guimond, Harti, & Denner, 2016). Also, the current study would fill the gap in the existing studies in the matter of ages of children. A number of studies of parental psychological control have mainly been conducted with relatively younger aged children; very few studies examine the development of college students related to parental psychological control (e.g., Kline, Killoren, & Alfaro, 2016). Methods & Results Four hundred two undergraduate college students in the south of the U.S. participated in the current study by completing a survey (female = 51% and male = 49%). They are mainly White (80.3%) and 91 percent were between 19 and 25 years of age (M = 22.01 years; SD = .2.65). Parental Psychological Control during Adolescence was created by calculating the mean of a total of 21 items (α = .95 for maternal/α = .91 for paternal). The example questions are “In general, my mother/father was less friendly with me, if I did not see things her way.” College Students’ Social Self-Esteem was measured with 8 items (α = .82). The example questions are: “I am easy to like.” College Students’ Depressive Symptoms were measured by calculating the mean of a total 20 items (α = .93). The example questions are: In the past week….“I could not shake off the blues.” Relationally/Socially Aggressive Behaviors were measured by 10 items (α = .79), such as “When I am frustrated with my partner/colleague/friend, I give that person the silent treatment.” Structural Equation Model was used to examine the mediation of social esteem and depressive symptoms between parental psychological control and children’s social/relational aggressive behaviors (see the Table 1 for descriptive statistics of the variables). As seen in Figure 1, there were indirect significant positive associations between maternal psychological control and antisocial behaviors via depressive symptoms; however, paternal psychological control was directly positively associated with antisocial behaviors as well as indirectly associated with antisocial behaviors via social esteem. More findings, interpretations, and limitations of the current study will be discussed at the conference.

To examine the association between maternal depressive symptoms during early childhood of their offspring and later overweight in the children. Only children (n = 1,090) whose weights and heights were measured at least once for three time points (grades one, three and six) from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study were included. Maternal depressive symptoms, defined as a Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) score of 16 or greater, were assessed using CES-D when the child was 1, 24, and 36 months. Childhood overweight was based on standardized height and weight measures taken during the interviews, and was defined according to appropriate CDC age- and sex-specific BMI percentiles. Generalized estimating equation was used to examine the impact of maternal depressive symptoms on the childhood overweight after adjusting for covariates. Compared to children of mothers without depression at any of the three time points, when children were one, 24 and 36 months of age, children of mothers with depression at all three time points were 1.695 times more likely to be overweight after adjusting for other child characteristics (95 % CI = 1.001–2.869). When further adjusted for maternal characteristics, children of mothers with depression at all three time points were 2.13 times more likely to be overweight (95 % CI = 1.05–4.31). Persistent maternal depressive symptoms may be associated with an increased risk of childhood overweight in their offspring. Children of mothers with depression may benefit from special attention in terms of obesity prevention.

This study examined the role of hope in understanding the link between loneliness and negative affective conditions (viz., anxiety and depressive symptoms) in a sample of 318 adults. As expected, loneliness was found to be a significant predictor of both anxiety and depressive symptoms. Noteworthy, hope was found to significantly augment the prediction of depressive symptoms, even after accounting for loneliness. Furthermore, we found evidence for a significant Loneliness × Hope interaction effect in predicting anxiety. A plot of the interaction confirmed that the association between loneliness and anxiety was weaker among high, compared to low, hope adults. Some implications of the present findings are discussed.

This study examined the relationship between domestic abuse, belongingness, and depressive symptoms in a community sample of 71 female primary care patients. As expected, domestic abuse was associated with greater depressive symptoms. Results from conducting mediation analyses, including bootstrapping techniques, provided strong convergent support for a model in which the hypothesized effect of domestic abuse on depressive symptoms in women is mediated by a loss of belongingness. Noteworthy, even after controlling for content overlap between measures of belongingness and depressive symptoms, the mediation model remained significant. Some implications of the present findings are discussed.

In this study, we examined goal-focused hope as a potential mediator between the association of multidimensional spirituality and depressive symptoms in a sample of 319 college students. Results of conducting a series of multiple mediation tests indicated that hope agency, but not hope pathways, fully and significantly accounted for the associations of ritualistic, theistic, and existential spirituality with depressive symptoms. Overall, our findings offer support for the contention that hope agency plays an important role in accounting for the association between spirituality and psychological adjustment in college students. Some implications of the present findings are discussed.

Objective: The authors examined trait hope and hopelessness as potential moderators of the association between depressive symptoms and suicidal behavior. Participants: A diverse sample of 372 college students. Methods: Depressive symptoms, hopelessness (Beck Hopelessness Scale), trait hope (Trait Hope Scale), and suicidal behaviors were assessed. Trait hope is defined as confidence in the ability to identify and attain goals, whereas hopelessness encompasses future attitudes and motivation loss. Results: In independent models, low hopelessness buffered the association between depressive symptoms and suicidal behavior for our whole sample, blacks, and whites, whereas trait hope buffered for Hispanics and whites. Examined simultaneously, hope remained a significant moderator only in whites and hopelessness only in blacks. These findings suggest that etiological and outcome correlates of hope and hopelessness may differ by ethnicity. Conclusions: These findings may have implications for development of culturally targeted interventions for college students that strive to simultaneously reduce hopelessness and bolster hopefulness.

Depression is a significant public health problem for young adults of college age, and negative life events exacerbate risk. Not all individuals who experience negative life events, however, report depressive symptoms, perhaps owing to protective characteristics. We examined one such characteristic, trait hope, a goal-oriented construct, as a potential moderator of the association between negative life events and depressive symptoms in an ethnically diverse sample of 386 college students. In support of our hypotheses, negative life events were significantly associated with greater levels of depressive symptoms, and higher levels of hope attenuated this relationship, such that those with greater hope reported fewer depressive symptoms related to potentially traumatic events. The moderating effect of hope did not differ across ethnic groups. Our findings have implications for managing the sequelae of negative life events, including depression. Cognitive–behavioural interventions tailored to help young adults identify and attain important life goals might help to overcome psychopathology associated with life stress. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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A model involving optimism and hope as predictors of depressive symptoms was tested in a sample of 28 male and 67 female primary care patients. Beyond the distinct influence of the two predictors on depressive symptoms, optimism and hope were also hypothesized to interact together to predict depressive symptoms. Results of a regression analysis indicated that, independent of demographic variables (viz. age, sex, race/ethnicity, marital status, and educational level), optimism and hope were significant and unique predictors of depressive symptoms in adults. Noteworthy, beyond optimism and hope, the Optimism × Hope interaction term was found to significantly augment the prediction of depressive symptoms. Some implications of the present findings are discussed.