Moderating Effects of Self-encouragement and Social Support between College Students' Job-seeking Stress and Depression

Objectives The aim of the current study is to examine the moderating effects of self-encouragement and social support between college students' job-seeking stress and depression. Methods Four hundred and forty one college students participated in this study and completed on-line surveys. Correlational analyses were used to examine the relations among study variables. A series of hierarchical regression analyses were performed to test moderation effects of self-encouragement and social support. Both 2-way moderation effects and 3-way moderation effects were tested. Results The study results first showed that inter-correlations among the study variables were consistent with the expected directions. Second, the separate moderation effects of three subscales of self-encouragement (cognitive, affective, behavioral) and social support were not significant. Finally, the 3-way moderation effects of job-seeking stress, affective self-encouragement, and social support were significant. The same 3-way moderation effects of behavioral self-encouragement in the place of affective self-encouragement found to be significant as well. Conclusions The discussion focused on the roles of affective and behavioral self-encouragement and social support as intervention targets of job-seeking stress management program.