Abstract
Using the differential susceptibility model, the present study examined how (mediator = Internet addiction) and when (moderator = 5-HTR1A gene rs6449693) did negative life events influence college students’ depression. A total of 301 Chinese college students (mean age = 19.15 years, SD = 0.93) from southern China completed anonymous questionnaires (the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, the Adolescent Self-Rating Life Events Check List, and the Chinese Version of the Internet Addiction Scale). Our findings revealed that negative life events, Internet addiction, and college students’ depression were significantly and positively associated with each other. Internet addiction mediated the relationship between negative life events and college students’ depression. Further, 5-HTR1A gene rs6449693 polymorphism moderated the relationship between negative life events and college students’ depression; specifically, allele G is the susceptibility reason which is manifested, as depression scores of individuals with high level of allele G are significantly lower than those with low level allele A. These findings underscore the importance of the differential susceptibility model in understanding how and when negative life events impact college students’ depression.
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All data, models, or code generated or used during the study are available in a repository or online in accordance with funder data retention policies. https://osf.io/yquzw/
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This work was supported by Hunan Province Philosophy and Social Science Foundation (Grant Number 19YBA247).
This work was supported by National Office for Philosophy and Social Sciences (grant numbers BBA140047; BBA200032).
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Zeng, Z., Hu, Y., Peng, L. et al. The effect of negative life events on college students’ depression: the mediating role of internet addiction and the moderating role of 5-HTT1A gene rs6449693 polymorphism. Curr Psychol 42, 6555–6563 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-01888-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-01888-0