Loneliness,Meaning In Life,Patience And Depression In College Students

1.ObjectiveThe relationship between loneliness and depression had been repeatedly confirmed in previous studies.There were few studies on whether the relationship will be affected by individual psychological resources or psychological quality.The present study aims to investigate the current situation of loneliness and depression among college students,and to further explore the influence mechanism of meaning in life and patience,so as to provide suggestions for their mental health protection.2.MethodsA total of 3388 college students in Guangdong Province were investigated using the general condition questionnaire,UCLA loneliness scale-8,patient health questionnaire-9 and purpose in life test-4 and patience scale.1)Descriptive analysis and one-way ANOVA were used to analyze the status quo of loneliness and depression among college students,as well as the differences in demographic variables.2)Correlation analysis and regression analysis were used to test the mediating effect of meaning in life,and the moderating effect of patience in the mediation model.3)Latent class analysis was used to divided patience into several classes,then one-way ANOVA and chi-square test were used to analyze the differences in depressive symptoms among different types of college students.3.Results1)The loneliness score of college students was 16.98±4.53,and loneliness varied in family residence and family economic status(P<0.001).The depression score was 7.44±4.66,and depression varied in gender,grade,family residence and family economic status(P<0.05).2)Loneliness can predict the depression symptoms in college students(B=0.51,P<0.001),and meaning in life played a mediating role between loneliness and depression,accounting for 24.9%of the total effect.3)The interaction terms of patience and loneliness had significant effects on meaning in life(B=0.01,P<0.01).4)Patience of college students can be divided into four latent classes:patience group(38.1%),repression group(26.9%),self-discipline group(21.7%)and impulsion group(13.3%).5)There were differences in depression and positive screening rate among the repression group,patience group,impulsion group and self-discipline group(F=71.156,P<0.001,χ2=191.962,P<0.001).The repression group and impulsion group got higher depression score[(8.80±4.71)VS(6.73±4.65)VS(8.80±4.36)VS(6.16±4.10)]and higher positive screening rate(35.0%VS 17.3%VS 36.5%VS 12.0%).4.Conclusions1)The loneliness of college students during the epidemic was affected by their family residence and economic level,students living in rural areas or with poor economic conditions felt higher loneliness.Depression was affected by gender,grade,family residence and economic level,with girls being significantly higher than boys,junior students being lower than other grades,and students with rural residence or poor economic conditions having higher levels of depression.2)The relationship between loneliness and depression was partially mediated by meaning in life,and moderated by patience.impulsion group,patience group and self-discipline group,students who often suppress emotions or act impulsively showed more signs of depression,whereas those with higher patience and delayed gratification showed fewer signs of depression.