Relation of perceived social support to mental health in prison police： a moderated mediating analysis

Abstract

BackgroundThe mental health level of the prison police is relatively low， so finding innovative ways to improve the mental health of them is of great significance for the safety of prison supervision and the implementation of peaceful China initiative.ObjectiveTo explore the relationship between perceived social support， perceived stress and psychological resilience with mental health of prison police， and to provide references for improving their mental health.MethodsIn March 2022， 424 policemen working in a male prison in a western province were selected by cluster sampling method， and investigated with the Perceived Social Support Scale （PSSS）， Chinese Perceived Stress Scale （CPSS）， Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale （CD-RISC） and General Health Questionnaire 20 （GHQ-20）， then Process 4.2 was used employed to verify the mediating role of perceived stress as well as the moderating role of psychological resilience in the relationship between perceived social support and mental health.Results①Male subjects scored higher on GHQ-20 than female subjects （t=2.095， P<0.05）. ②CPSS score was negatively correlated with PSSS and GHQ-20 scores （r=-0.670， -0.703， P<0.01）， and GHQ-20 score showed a positive correlation with PSSS and CD-RISC scores （r=0.580， 0.693， P<0.01）. ③Perceived social support positively predict mental health （β=0.154， 95% CI： 0.133~0.175， P<0.01）. ④Perceived stress played a mediating role in the relationship between perceived social support and mental health， and the mediation effect size was 0.087， accounting for 88.78% of the total effect （95% CI： 0.064~0.112， P<0.01）. ⑤Psychological resilience played a moderating role in the second half （perceived stress→mental health） of the mediating path of "perceived social support→perceived stress→mental health"（β=0.074， 95% CI： 0.046~0.102， P<0.01）. ⑥Psychological resilience also regulated the mediation effect of perceived stress on the relationship between perceived social support and mental health ［three regression coefficients tested in turn are significant： a=-0.537 （95% CI： -0.594~-0.480， P<0.01）， b1=-0.162 （95% CI： -0.197~-0.127， P<0.01）， b3=0.074 （95% CI： 0.046~0.102， P<0.01）］.ConclusionPerceived social support of prison police has an impact on their mental health both directly and indirectly through perceived stress. In addition， perceived social support of prison police has a moderated mediation effect on mental health， and it is partially moderated by psychological resilience.［ Funded by General Project of Sichuan Prison Administrative Bureau in 2022］

Keywords

• mental health
• perceived social support
• perceived stress
• psychological resilience