Psychology Research and Behavior Management (May 2023)
The Effects of Cognitive Fusion on Depression in Primary School Principals During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Mediating Role of Psychological Vulnerability and the Moderating Role of Self-Esteem
Abstract
Jingyu Lv,1,* Qing Qiu,2,* Baojuan Ye,1,* Qiang Yang1 1Center of Mental Health Education and Research, School of Psychology, School of Education, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang, People’s Republic of China; 2School of Intercultural Studies, Post-Doctoral Research Station of Psychology, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Qing Qiu, Jiangxi Normal University, 99 Ziyang Avenue, Nanchang, 330022, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86-185-79113027, Email [email protected]: The COVID-19 pandemic had triggered a serious crisis that had brought stress and challenges to primary school principals, as well as having a dramatic impact on their mental health. This study explored the relationship between cognitive fusion and depression among primary school principals during COVID-19, as well as the mediating role of psychological vulnerability and the moderation role of self-esteem in this process.Patients and Methods: Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire (CFQ), Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), psychological vulnerability scale, and self-esteem scale were used to measure 279 rural primary school principals. The data were analyzed by adopting Pearson’s correlations and moderated mediation analysis.Results: The results revealed that: (1) There were significant relationships among cognitive fusion, depression, psychological vulnerability and self-esteem. (2) The results showed that psychological vulnerability mediated the link between cognitive fusion and depression. (3) Self-esteem moderated the associations between cognitive fusion and depression, and also moderated the associations between cognitive fusion and psychological vulnerability. The relationship between cognitive fusion and depression was weaker for primary school principals with high levels of self-esteem. In contrast, the relationship between cognitive fusion and psychological vulnerability was stronger for primary school principals with low levels of self-esteem.Conclusion: Psychological vulnerability played a mediating role in the relationship between cognitive fusion and depression. Moreover, self-esteem moderated the effect of cognitive fusion on depression, and also the effect of cognitive fusion on psychological vulnerability.Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, cognitive fusion, psychological vulnerability, depression, self-esteem, primary school principals
