The Impact of Depression on the Meaning of Life of Police College Students: The Chain Mediating Role of Negative Cognitive Processing Bias and Core Self-Evaluation

To explore the relationship between depression and life meaning of police college students, and analyze the mediating effects of negative cognitive processing bias and core self-evaluation. A questionnaire survey was conducted among 400 police college students by convenient sampling method. A general information questionnaire, negative cognitive processing bias questionnaire, meaning of life questionnaire, core self- evaluations scale, and the center for epidemiologic studies depression Scale were administered to the students. The relationship between negative cognitive processing bias, core self-evaluation, depression and sense of meaning in life was analyzed by Pearson. Amos 26.0 software was used to establish the structural equation model and test the mediation effect. A total of 410 questionnaires were received in this study, and 400 valid questionnaires were obtained by excluding incomplete data, with an effective rate of 97.56%. Pearson correlation analysis showed that depression was negatively correlated with sense of life meaning and core self-evaluation. It was positively correlated with negative cognitive processing bias (P < 0.05). Negative cognitive processing bias and its dimensions were negatively correlated with sense of life meaning and core self-evaluation (P < 0.05). The core self-evaluation was positively correlated with the sense of life meaning (P < 0.05). In addition, negative cognitive processing bias and core self-evaluation play a chain mediating effect between depression and sense of meaning in life. The total indirect effect accounted for 72.65% of the total effect, among which the specific mediating effect of core self-evaluation accounted for 18.39%, the specific mediating effect of negative cognitive processing bias accounted for 43.05%, and the chain mediating effect of negative cognitive processing bias and core self-evaluation between depression and life meaning accounted for 11.21%. There is significant correlation between depression and sense of meaning of life, negative cognitive processing bias and core self-evaluation, and the negative cognitive processing bias and core self-evaluation play a chain mediating effect between depression and sense of meaning of life. Therefore, while paying attention to students’ depression, we should pay attention to the assessment of negative cognitive processing bias and core self-evaluation level, and take targeted measures to reduce the impact of students’ depression on their sense of meaning in life.