Perceived Social Support as Moderator of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms in Adolescents with Psychological Trauma
Keywords:
perceived social support, trauma, depression, anxiety, Puerto RicoAbstract
Perceived social support (PSS) has been identified as a protective factor in mitigating symptoms of mental health conditions commonly associated with traumatic experiences. This study examines PSS as a moderator in the relationship between trauma symptoms and depression and anxiety symptoms in children and youths (N = 646). The results of the moderation analysis with regression show that PSS moderates the relationship between trauma and symptoms of depression (b = -.03, p < .001, 95% CI [-.05, -.02]) and anxiety (b = -.02, p < .001, 95% CI [-.03, -.01]). The simple slope analysis highlights that when PSS is high, there is a lower relationship between symptoms of trauma and those of depression, b = .83, p < .001, 95% CI [.70, .96] and anxiety, b = .70, p < .001, 95% CI [.60, .80]. These results show that PSS can reduce the effect of trauma in the presence of symptoms of depression and anxiety.
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