Gratitude Moderates the Relationship Between Perceived Support, Stress, and Mental Health in Women

Introduction: Social support is strongly associated with positive mental health outcomes. One reason for this association is that support is able to reduce perceptions of stress. Identifying factors that influence this link may be particularly important for women given their greater incidence of anxiety and depression. Gratitude may play a key role in this context, as research suggests the benefits of support are stronger for individuals with higher levels of gratitude. Aim: The purpose of the current study was to examine whether the indirect association between social support and women’s mental health through perceived stress was moderated by gratitude. Methods: To test our research question, we conducted a cross-sectional correlational study of 278 women who completed questionnaires assessing social support, perceived stress, depression, anxiety, and gratitude. Results: Consistent with previous research, our results indicated that the association between social support and depression was partially mediated by perceived stress. In contrast, the association between support and anxiety was fully mediated by perceived stress. Furthermore, our results showed that conditional indirect effects of support on depression and anxiety through perceived stress were only significant at high levels of gratitude and not at low levels of gratitude. Conclusions: Our results add to the literature showing that gratitude strengthens the positive association between social support and mental health in women.