ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Health Psychology
The effect of perceived stress on depression in stroke: the chain mediating role of self-acceptance and self-perceived burden
Provisionally accepted
- Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China
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Background: This study aims to investigate the mechanism through which perceived stress affects depression symptoms by assessing the current status of depression symptoms and psychological characteristics in stroke patients. Methods: A total of 222 stroke patients were enrolled through convenience sampling at a tertiary general hospital in Harbin City during 2023-2024. Measurement tools included the patient health questionaire-9, Chinese perceived stress scale, self-acceptance questionnaire, and self perceived burden scale. SPSS software was used for descriptive statistical analysis, t-test and variance analysis, correlation analysis and mediation effect test. Results: In this study, 67.12% of stroke patients had depression symptoms. The results of correlation analysis showed that perceived stress was significantly positively correlated with self-perceived burden and depression symptoms (r=0.212-0.241, P<0.01), and significantly negatively correlated with self-acceptance (r=-0.320, P<0.01). Self-perceived burden was positively correlated with depression symptoms (r=0.348, P<0.01), and negatively correlated with self-acceptance (r=-0.315, P<0.01). Self-acceptance was negatively correlated with depression symptoms (r=-0.304, P<0.01). Mediation effect analyses showed that self-acceptance mediated significantly (95% CI [0.025, 0.117]); self-perceived burden mediated significantly (95% CI [0.003, 0.098]); and self-acceptance and self-perceived burden mediated significantly (95% CI [0.003, 0.098]) the chain of mediation in the relationship between perceived stress and depression symptoms (95% CI [0.005, 0.035]). Conclusion: Patients with stroke have a relatively high level of depression symptoms. Through a chain path of reducing perceived stress, enhancing self-acceptance, and alleviating perceived burden, the depression symptoms of stroke patients can be effectively alleviated.
Keywords: Stroke, Depression symptoms, perceived stress, self-acceptance, Self-perceived burden
Received: 29 Aug 2025; Accepted: 03 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Li, Peng, Sui, Chen, Miao, Zhou and Qiao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Zhengxue Qiao
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