Perceived National Resilience and Mental Well-Being Among Emerging Adults at Risk for Depression: Indirect Associations Through Peace of Mind and Life Satisfaction.
Cleofas J • Early intervention in psychiatry • 2026
Perceived national resilience was positively associated with mental well-being among Filipino emerging adults at risk for depression, with significant indirect associations through peace of mind (stronger pathway) and life satisfaction.
Key Findings
Results
Perceived national resilience was positively associated with mental well-being among emerging adults at risk for depression.
Total effect: B = 1.395, 95% CI [1.072, 1.720], β = 0.314
Sample consisted of 920 Filipino emerging adults aged 18-29 years residing in the Greater Manila Area
All participants scored ≥ 7 on the depression component of the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, indicating elevated depressive distress
Analysis was adjusted for age, sex assigned at birth, and household income
Cross-sectional online survey design was used
Results
Peace of mind was a significant indirect pathway between perceived national resilience and mental well-being.
Indirect effect through peace of mind: B = 0.739, 95% CI [0.593, 0.890], β = 0.166
Peace of mind represented the stronger of the two indirect pathways examined
Parallel mediation analysis used 5000 bias-corrected bootstrap resamples
The confidence interval did not include zero, confirming statistical significance
Results
Life satisfaction was a significant but weaker indirect pathway between perceived national resilience and mental well-being.
Indirect effect through life satisfaction: B = 0.077, 95% CI [0.014, 0.165], β = 0.017
The effect size for the life satisfaction pathway (β = 0.017) was substantially smaller than the peace of mind pathway (β = 0.166)
The confidence interval did not include zero, confirming statistical significance
Both mediators were tested simultaneously in a parallel mediation model
Results
The full parallel mediation model explained 43.7% of the variance in mental well-being.
R² = 43.7% for mental well-being as the outcome variable
Covariates included age, sex assigned at birth, and household income
The model was guided by the psychosocial pathways model as its theoretical framework
Both peace of mind and life satisfaction were included as parallel mediators in the same model
Methods
The study focused specifically on emerging adults at risk for depression, a developmentally sensitive population.
Participants were aged 18-29 years, consistent with the emerging adulthood developmental period
Risk for depression was operationalized as scoring ≥ 7 on the depression component of the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale
All 920 participants met this elevated distress threshold
The study was conducted in the Greater Manila Area of the Philippines
What This Means
This research suggests that how young people perceive their country's ability to withstand and recover from national challenges — referred to as 'national resilience' — is linked to better mental well-being, even among those already showing signs of depression risk. The study surveyed 920 Filipino young adults (ages 18-29) in the Manila area who were screened as being at elevated risk for depression, and found that those who viewed their nation as more resilient also tended to report higher mental well-being. This relationship was not just direct — it also worked indirectly through two psychological factors: a sense of inner peace (peace of mind) and how satisfied people felt with their lives overall.
The most important mediating pathway was peace of mind, which carried a much larger portion of the association than life satisfaction did. This suggests that feeling a sense of calm and psychological settledness may be an important mechanism through which positive perceptions of societal conditions translate into better mental health outcomes. Taken together, the model accounted for nearly 44% of the variation in participants' mental well-being scores, indicating that both societal perceptions and individual psychological resources play meaningful roles.
This research suggests that mental health efforts targeting young people at risk for depression may benefit from considering not just individual-level factors, but also how people perceive the strength and stability of their broader society. Interventions that cultivate inner peace and life satisfaction — as well as those that foster positive civic perceptions — could be relevant to early mental health prevention and support for this age group.
Cleofas J. (2026). Perceived National Resilience and Mental Well-Being Among Emerging Adults at Risk for Depression: Indirect Associations Through Peace of Mind and Life Satisfaction.. Early intervention in psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1111/eip.70253