Psychology Rearch, ISSN 2159-5542
June 2013, Vol. 3, No. 6, 325-329
Influence of Optimism on Appraid Stress, Depression, and
Anxiety Among College Students *
Chris A. Einbarth
Weber State University, Ogden, USA
This study examined the direct and interactive effects of appraid stress and dispositional optimism in predicting
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symptoms of depression and anxiety among college students. Consistent with a stress-buffering hypothesis, the
results suggest that students’ appraid stress, depressive symptoms, and anxiety are moderated by optimism. The
utility of this rearch for reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety among students rests on the modifiability
of appraid stress by the promotion of an adaptive, future-oriented perspective (i.e., optimism).
Keywords: dispositional optimism, stress, depression, college students
Introduction
Rearch suggests that many college students are stresd by the demands of school (Robotham & Julian, 2006) and experiencing symptoms of depression and anxiety (Kasl, Bornovalova, & Metha, 2006; McCarthy, Fouladi, Juncker, & Matheny, 2006). According to the ACHA-NCHA (American College Health Association-National College Health Asssment) (2010), stress is the leading impediment to students’ academic performance and approximately one third of students report feeling stresd and overwhelmed by school. Furthermore, symptoms of depression and anxiety are generally more common among students than in the general population (Stewart-Brown, Patterson,
Peterson, Doll, Balding, & Regis, 2000). Given such findings, it is not surprising that college student stress, depression, and anxiety are matters of growing concern for rearchers and health professionals.
A particularly relevant individual difference variable that may lesn appraid stress and influence depression and anxiety is dispositional optimism (i.e., positive outcome expectancies). Optimism is conceptualized as a stable, trait-like personality characteristic comprid of a general, positive attitude about the future and a tendency to anticipate favorable outcomes (Scheier, Carver, & Bridges, 1994). The supposition is that someone with high dispositional optimism would be less likely to experience appraid stress, depression, and anxiety than someone with low levels of dispositional optimism. Some empirical support exists for the propositions as optimism has been linked to various measures of perceived stress and psychological adjustment (e.g., Chang, 1998; Chang & Sanna, 2003; Huan, Yeo, Ang, & Chong, 2006).
Despite clear conceptual linkages among appraid stress, optimism, depression, and anxiety there has * This paper was prented in part at the Rearch Consortium Conference of the American Alliance of Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance National Convention and Exposition, San Diego, March 31, 2011.
Chris A. Einbarth, Assistant Professor, Department of Health Promotion and Human Performance (HPHP), Weber State University.
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INFLUENCE OF OPTIMISM ON APPRAISED STRESS, DEPRESSION, AND ANXIETY 326
been surprisingly little empirical rearch with college students (e.g., Baldwin, Chamblis, & Towler, 2003;
Bristte, Scheier, & Carver, 2002; Chang, 1998; Lai, 2009), and the dynamic interplay among the variables
is in need of further study. To address this need, the purpo of the prent study was to examine both the direct
and interactive (or moderating) roles of appraid stress and optimism in predicting symptoms of depression
and anxiety among college students.
Method
Participants (n = 353) consisted of male (n = 172) and female (n = 181) college students enrolled in large, baccalaureate core class at a large university in the Northwest United States. Ninety percent of the sample
was 18 to 20 years old, with less than three percent being older than age 25. Approximately 80% of the sample
identified themlves as White, European American, 9% as Asian, with no other ethnic group exceeding three
percent of the total sample. Prior to data collection, the project received institutional review board approval for
the protection of human participants in rearch.
A cross-ctional, lf-report survey format was ud to collect data. Participants voluntarily completed a
questionnaire that assd demographic background information, appraid stress, dispositional optimism,
depression, and anxiety. The perceived stress scale (Cohen, Kamarch, & Mermelstein, 1983) was ud to
evaluate the nonspecific appraid stress of participants. Dispositional optimism was assd with the revid
life orientation test(Scheier et al., 1994). P. F. Lovibond and S. H. Lovibond’s (1995) depression scale was
ud to measure symptoms of low positive effect and a n of helplessness. Similarly, P. F. Lovibond and S.
H. Lovibond’s (1995) anxiety scale was ud to asss symptoms of autonomic arousal (e.g., elevated heart rate)
and fearfulness. Alpha coefficients for the aforementioned scales ranged from 0.74 to 0.87 in the prent study
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and suggested that a high degree of internal consistency existed. Zero-order correlations were also computed
among the study variables and ranged from |0.47| to |0.62| suggesting that the scales tapped relatively
independent constructs (e Table 1).
Table 1
Variable Correlations, Means, SDs (Standard Deviations), and Alpha Coefficients
Scale 1 2 3 4
stress --
Appraid
1
2 Optimism -0.47 --
3 Depression 0.62 -0.48 --
4 Anxiety 0.51 -0.33 0.63 --
Mean 2.64 2.13 2.01 1.84
SD0.59 0.38 0.70 0.68 coefficient 0.85 0.74 0.87 0.81 Alpha
Notes. All zero-order correlations are significant, p < 0.01; Items 1-4 were assd using 5-point Likert-type scales ranging from
1 (“Never”) to 5 (“Very often”).
Results
Hierarchical, multiple-regression analys were conducted to evaluate the relative contributions of appraid stress and optimism in predicting symptoms of depression and anxiety. To account for potential
differences among male and female participants on the variables of study, the x variable was entered in
INFLUENCE OF OPTIMISM ON APPRAISED STRESS, DEPRESSION, AND ANXIETY 327
the first step of the regression formulas. To examine the moderating (or stress-buffering) effect of
optimism, an interaction term was created by multiplying perceived stress by optimism. To yield correct
standardized solutions, all variables were centered before analysis. Results of the analys are prented
in Table 2.
Table 2
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Summary of Hierarchical Regression Analysis for Variables Predicting Depression and Anxiety
Variable R ΔR2 df F
symptoms
Depressive
351
0.30*
0.00
1, Sex 0.03
Perceived stress 0.62 0.39 1, 350 111.69*
349 88.69*
Optimism 0.66 0.04 1,
Perceived stress × optimism 0.69 0.04 1, 348 78.10*
Anxiety symptoms
Sex 0.18 0.03 1,李弘基
351 11.22*
Perceived stress 0.52 0.24 1, 350 64.72*
349 88.69*
Optimism 0.53 0.01 1,
Perceived stress × optimism 0.56 0.03 1, 348 78.10*
Note.*p < 0.01.
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With depressive symptoms as the dependent variable, the x variable was entered in the first step of the
regression formula and was not significant. In the cond step, perceived stress was found to account for a
significant 39% of variance in depressive symptoms, p < 0.01. Optimism was found to account for a
significant
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four percent of additional variance in step three, p < 0.01. The perceived stress × optimism interaction was
found to account for another significant four percent of variance in step four, p < 0.01. The full regression
model including x, perceived stress, dispositional optimism, and the interaction term accounted for 47% of
the variance in depressive symptoms, F(4,348) = 78.10, p < 0.001. Significant effects emerged for appraid
stress (β= 0.52, p < 0.01), optimism (β = -0.26, p < 0.01), and the interaction of optimism with appraid stress
(β = -0.20, p < 0.01).
With anxiety as the dependent variable, x accounted for a significant 3% of the variance in step one, p
< 0.01. In the cond step, perceived stress contributed a significant 24% of variance, p < 0.01. In step 3, the
optimism variable added one percent of variance in anxiety symptoms, p < 0.02. In the final step, the
perceived stress x optimism interaction was found to account for a significant three percent of additional
variance in students’ lf-reported anxiety, p < 0.01. The full regression model including x, perceived
stress, dispositional optimism, and the interaction term accounted for 31% of the variance in anxiety
symptoms, F(4,348) = 39.05, p < 0.001. Significant effects emerged for x (β= 0.10, p < 0.03), appraid
stress (β = 0.43, p < 0.01), optimism (β = -0.14, p < 0.01), and the interaction of optimism with appraid
stress (β = -0.17, p < 0.01).
To determine the form of the interactions, regression lines were plotted to depict the regression of
optimism on the outcome measures as a function of low (1 standard deviation below the mean) and high (1 SD
above the mean) appraid stress (Aiken & West, 1991). The form of the interactions suggested that decreas
in optimism exacerbate depression and anxiety in instances of high appraid stress (e Figures 1 and 2).
INFLUENCE OF OPTIMISM ON APPRAISED STRESS, DEPRESSION, AND ANXIETY
328
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perceived stress and optimism scales.
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Figure 2. Interaction between participants’ predicted values of lf-reported anxiety and centered values on the
perceived stress and optimism scales.
Discussion
The purpo of this study was to examine the main and interactive effects of perceived stress and optimism in predicting symptoms of depression and anxiety in college students. The results indicated that
optimism has a direct effect on symptoms of depression and anxiety beyond what can be accounted for by
perceived stress. Moreover, optimism moderates the relations between perceived stress and symptoms of
depression and anxiety among participants in this study.
The results of the prent study contribute to a converging body of evidence to support the role of op
timism as a buffer of stress and psychological disorder (Chang, 1998; Chang & Sanna, 2003). The pathways
INFLUENCE OF OPTIMISM ON APPRAISED STRESS, DEPRESSION, AND ANXIETY 329
through which optimism influences adjustment to stress are in need of further study but the existing rearch
suggests that optimism is related to students viewing their environment as less threatening and, conquently,
being better adjusted psychologically than pessimists (Bristte et al., 2002; Chang, 1998; Chang & Sanna,
2003). In other words, optimism may protect against symptoms of negative effect (e.g., depression, anxiety) by
怎么关闭迈克菲leading students to perceive their circumstances as less threatening.
The findings from this study suggest that it may be uful to consider interventions for students that f被囚禁的甜蜜野兽
ocus on promoting optimism or to change pessimistic thoughts associated with negative feelings such as depressive
symptoms. Interventions aimed at increasing an individual’s positive view of the future may result in success
for the treatment of students exhibiting symptoms of stress, depression, and anxiety. The ability to remain
positive, to extract benefit from stressful life circumstances, and to have an adaptive, future-oriented
perspective is an important factor in maintaining psychological health (Bristte et al., 2002; Hirsch, Wolford,
LaLonde, Brunk, & Parker Morris, 2007).
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