How depression affects academic self-efficacy among college students: the mediating effect of professional identity and the moderating effect of belief in a just world.

Chunmei Chen, Yujie Zhu, Yitong Hong, Fanghao Xiao, Li Li

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Article in BMC public health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Chunmei ChenTeachers College, Jimei University, Xiamen, 361021, Fujian, China.

Yujie ZhuFaculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 999077, China.

Yitong HongTeacher Education Research Center of the Ministry of Education, Beijing Normal University, Haidian District, Beijing, 100080, China.

Fanghao XiaoMarxist College, Xiamen Institute of Technology, Xiamen, 361021, Fujian, China. xiaofanghao@xit.edu.cn.

Li LiCollege of Economics and Management, Hainan Vocational University, Haikou, 570216, Hainan, China. 6646611@qq.com.

Funding

the National Social Science Fund of China CIA220278

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAcademic self-efficacy has a significant impact on college students' academic performance and growth and success. PURPOSE: To explore the effects of depression on academic self-efficacy and the mediating role of professional identity and the moderating role of belief in a just world among college students.

methodThe Depression Scale, Academic Self-Efficacy Scale, Professional Identity Scale, and Belief id a Just World Scale were used to investigate 3270 college students.

results(1) depression negatively predicts academic self-efficacy among college students; (2) professional identity partially mediates the relationship between depression and academic self-efficacy; (3) belief in a just world positively moderates the pathways of influence of depression and academic self-efficacy. Specifically, the negative predictive effect of depression on academic self-efficacy was weaker among college students with high belief in a just world compared to the group with low belief in a just world.

conclusionsThere is a mediating effect between depression and academic self-efficacy interventions. Meanwhile, professional identity is a mediating variable in the relationship, and belief in a just world mitigates the negative effects of depression on academic self-efficacy.

Indexed as

DepressionSelf EfficacySocial IdentificationSocial JusticeStudentsAdolescentAdultFemaleHumansMaleSurveys and QuestionnairesUniversitiesYoung AdultAcademic self-efficacyBelief in a just worldDepressionMediating effectModerating effectProfessional identity

Identifiers

PMID41491941

DOI10.1186/s12889-025-26074-w

PMCPMC12805785

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Textmetadata

LicenceCC BY-NC-ND

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.