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How Do Control Beliefs About Stress Relate to Depressive Symptoms in Chinese Healthcare Workers: The Mediating Role of Optimism and Cognitive Reappraisal

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Abstract

Increasing interest in understanding depressive symptoms in healthcare workers stems from their negative impact. Previous studies have highlighted the potential influence of lay beliefs about stress on depressive symptoms. However, no previous research has directly examined whether control beliefs about stress could alleviate depressive symptoms. This study aims to investigate the relationship between control beliefs about stress and depressive symptoms among Chinese healthcare workers. Additionally, we aim to explore the mediating roles of optimism and cognitive reappraisal within this relationship. A total of 1326 Chinese healthcare workers completed a multi-section questionnaire. The results indicated that control beliefs about stress were negatively correlated with depressive symptoms and positively correlated with optimism and cognitive reappraisal. Furthermore, both optimism and cognitive reappraisal served as independent and serial mediators in the relationship between control beliefs about stress and depressive symptoms.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the present study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank everyone who participated in this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

Study design: Baoyu Bai, Chengzhi Bai, Hongxia Zhang.

Data collection: Jiaren Zheng, Chengzhi Bai, Baoyu Bai.

Data analysis: Chengzhi Bai, Baoyu Bai, Jiaren Zheng.

Study supervision: Baoyu Bai, Hongxia Zhang.

Manuscript writing: Chengzhi Bai, Baoyu Bai, Hongxia Zhang.

Critical revisions for important intellectual content: Chengzhi Bai, Baoyu Bai, Hongxia Zhang.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Baoyu Bai or Hongxia Zhang.

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Ethical statement

This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Department of Psychology, School of Philosophy, Wuhan University (Number: 2020071601). All respondents were required to read and approve the informed consent form before responding to the survey.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Bai, C., Bai, B., Zhang, H. et al. How Do Control Beliefs About Stress Relate to Depressive Symptoms in Chinese Healthcare Workers: The Mediating Role of Optimism and Cognitive Reappraisal. Int J Ment Health Addiction (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-024-01292-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-024-01292-2

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