The relationship between Chinese adults' self-assessments of family social status in childhood and depression: A moderated mediation model

Using the data from a large-scale Chinese national survey, this study aimed to explore the underlying mechanisms between Chinese adults' self-assessments of family social status in childhood and depression. The research data was from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) in 2020. We selected 13,430 Chinese adults aged 16–60 as participants, and used the PROCESS macro program to conduct moderated mediation analysis. Chinese adults' self-assessments of family social status in childhood had a statistically significant negative predictive effect on depression. The sharing frequency of WeChat Moments played a partial mediating role in the relationship between self-assessment of family social status in childhood and depression. Furthermore, social trust moderated the direct effect of mediation model. Age moderated the second half of the mediation model, and the effect was statistically significant in the younger population (young people), but not in the older population (middle-aged people). This was a cross-sectional study and no causal conclusions could be drawn. Chinese adults' self-assessment of family social status in childhood could affect depression in adulthood through sharing frequency of WeChat Moments. People with higher social trust can effectively buffer the adverse effect of self-assessed low family social status in childhood on depression. Age moderated the relationship between sharing frequency of WeChat Moments and depression, but this moderating effect was only significant in the younger population.