A Study On Factors Affecting The Mental Health Of Vocational College Freshmen

Objective:To explore the relationship of vocational college freshmen'mental health with neuroticism, self-esteem, social support, life events, childhood psychological maltreatment and neglect.Method:A convenient sample of 740 freshmen from a certain vocational college of Hunan Province were surveyed with the Child Psychological Abuse and Neglect Scale (CPANS), Adolescent Self-Rating Life Events Check List (ALSEC),Self-Esteem Scale (SES), Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-neurotic (EPQ-N),Social Support Self-Rating Scale (SSRS),Symptom Checklist 90(SCL-90).Result:Childhood psychological maltreatment and neglect had significant direct effect on vocational college students'mental health, neuroticism,self-esteem(β=0.13,-0.20,-0.21,Ps<0.001).Life events had significant direct effect on vocational college students'mental health, neuroticism,self-esteem(β=0.17,-0.39,-0.28,Ps<0.001).Results of the multivariate delta method indicated that neuroticism and self-esteem served as a partial mediator of the relation between childhood psychological maltreatment and neglect and vocational college students' mental health(z=6.46,6.05,Ps<0.01);and served as a partial mediator of the relation between life events and vocational college students'mental health(z=9.84,7.30,Ps<0.01).Social support moderated the relation between life events and mental health(F change(1,736)=13.41,P <0.001)Conclusion:The mediating roles of self-esteem and neuroticism and the moderating role of social support suggest salient leverage points for change through self-esteem enhancement,emotion management and team work in vocational college students.