Moderating Effect of Spirituality in the Relationship between Self-focused Attention and Depression

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to verify the moderating effect of spirituality in the influence of self-focused attention on adolescent depression. To this end, the questionnaires survey was conducted to 217 theological college students (male-70, female-147) two theological college in Seoul. Self-awareness and self-oppression were included as the independent variables, and the moderating effect of spirituality was analyzed in terms of the influence of self-focused attention on depression. Results from a hierarchical moderation regression analysis showed as follows. First, the group of a high degree of spirituality showed that depression was lowered when self-awareness became higher, whereas depression was increased when self-oppression became higher. As for the group of a low degree of spirituality, self-awareness did not show an effect of suppressing depression; thus, self-oppression was found to be a risk factor for depression. Second, as a result of verifying the moderating effect of spirituality, the moderating effect of spirituality in the relationship between self-focused attention and depression was only effective in the relationship with “self-oppression”. low group of spirituality have high depression compare to high group of spirituality regardless in self-oppression is high or low. Increase of degree of depression of high group of spirituality was low to compared to low group of spirituality, though in situation high of self-oppression. Spirituality was found to suppress depression as interacting with self-oppression; thus, it was possible to find out that spirituality played a role of suppressing depression when the level of self-oppression was high. And as a result of verifying the moderating effect of self-focused attention and spirituality, self-oppression was found to play a role of suppressing depression as self-oppression interacted with spirituality. The result of this study implies that counseling intervention should be applied differently depending on the level of spirituality. This study is significant since it suggested an effective intervention measure of spirituality as a preventive measure for depression in the education fields through examining the moderating effect of spirituality.