AUTHOR=Mei Songli , Meng Cuicui , Hu Yueyang , Guo Xinmeng , Lv Jianping , Qin Zeying , Liang Leilei , Li Chuanen , Fei Junsong , Cao Ruilin , Hu Yuanchao 

TITLE=Relationships Between Depressive Symptoms, Interpersonal Sensitivity and Social Support of Employees Before and During the COVID-19 Epidemic: A Cross-lag Study

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=Volume 13 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.742381

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2022.742381

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=This study examined the correlation between depressive symptom, interpersonal sensitivity and social support before and during COVID-19 and verified the causal relationship among them. The study used Social Support Scale (SSRS) and Symptom Self-Rating Scale (SCL-90) to investigate relevant variables. A total of 1,414 employees from enterprises were recruited for this longitudinal study, which a follow up study was conducted on the same group of participants one year later. Paired sample t-test results showed that significant differences were only found in social support, not in depressive symptoms or interpersonal sensitivity. The results of correlation analysis showed that social support, depressive symptom and interpersonal sensitivity were significantly correlated between wave 1 and wave 2. The cross-lag autoregressive pathway showed that employees' social support level, depressive symptom and interpersonal sensitivity all showed moderate stability. Crossing paths showed that wave 1 social support could significantly predict wave 2 depression symptom (β=-0.21 P<0.001) and wave 2 interpersonal sensitivity (β=-0.21 P<0.001). Wave 1 depressive symptom (β=-0.10 P<0.01) could significantly predict wave 2 social support, while wave 1 interpersonal sensitivity (β=0.07 P=0.10) could not predict wave 2 social support. social support can be considered as a protective factor against mental health problems.