Hope, depression, and psychiatric symptomology in adolescent cancer survivors

Abstract Adolescent cancer survivors are at heightened vulnerability to depression and psychiatric conditions, while hope is considered a potent protective factor. The present study examined whether depression mediated the association between hope and psychiatric symptoms among adolescent cancer survivors and whether hope moderated the association between depression and psychiatric symptoms. We further examined whether age, gender, and time since diagnosis moderated these associations. A total of 188 teenage cancer survivors ( M age = 15.37) completed the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90), and the Children’s Hope Scale (CHS). We conducted variance-based partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), including mediation, moderation, and gender - based multigroup analyses. Hope was negatively associated with depression ( β = − 0.55, p < .001), and depression was positively associated with psychiatric symptoms ( β = 0.76, p < .001). The direct association between hope and psychiatric symptoms was not significant ( β = −0.05, p = .400). The indirect association between hope and psychiatric symptoms through depression was significant (inconsistent mediation). Hope did not moderate the relation between depression and psychiatric symptoms, and no moderation effects were found for age, gender, or time since diagnosis. Multi-group analysis also indicated that all structural paths were invariant across genders. Depressive symptomology significantly accounted for the association between hope and other psychiatric symptomatology among adolescent cancer survivors. Although age, gender, or time since diagnosis did not moderate these associations, the results highlight the importance of concurrently targeting hope and depressive symptomatology within intervention frameworks to maximize emotional recovery among adolescent cancer survivors.