Expressive Flexibility and Mental Health: The Mediating Role of Social Support and Gender Differences

Chenyu Shangguan, Lihui Zhang, Yali Wang, Wei Wang, Meixian Shan and Feng Liu
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Chenyu Shangguan: College of Education Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing 210023, China
Lihui Zhang: Department of Psychology, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, China
Yali Wang: Department of Psychology, School of Marxist, Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics, Hangzhou 310018, China
Wei Wang: School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, China
Meixian Shan: College of Education Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing 210023, China
Feng Liu: College of Education Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing 210023, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 1, 1-14

Abstract: Recent research has emphasized the crucial role of expressive flexibility in mental health. This study extended prior studies by further exploring the mediating mechanism and possible gender differences underlying the association between expressive flexibility and mental health indexed by depression and life satisfaction based on the dual-factor model of mental health. Specifically, we explored whether social support mediated the association between expressive flexibility and depression as well as life satisfaction, and whether there were gender differences in these relationships. A total of 711 voluntary college students (mean age = 20.98 years, SD = 2.28; 55.70% women) completed a set of scales assessing expressive flexibility, perceived social support, depression, and life satisfaction. Results showed that expressive flexibility had a positive direct effect on life satisfaction and social support mediated this association. Social support also mediated the relationship between expressive flexibility and depression. The mediation effect of social support was robust and consistent in men and women whereas expressive flexibility had a stronger direct effect on depression in women compared to men. The present study contributes to clarifying the relationship between expressive flexibility and mental health from a more comprehensive perspective. Last, the strengths and limitations of this study were discussed.

Keywords: expressive flexibility; depression; life satisfaction; social support; gender differences (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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