The cognitive-affective feedback loop of stress and depression: Exploring the roles of perceived socioeconomic status and mental health awareness in Filipino college students

Abstract

This study examined the cognitive pathways linking perceived stress to depressive symptoms in a sample of 440 Filipino college students by testing both forward and reverse serial mediation models. In the forward model, perceived stress was hypothesized to lead to reflective rumination, which subsequently escalates into brooding rumination, increasing hopelessness, and ultimately resulting in depression. A reverse model was also tested to explore a potential feedback loop from depression back to perceived stress. Additionally, the moderating effects of Perceived Socioeconomic Status (PSES) and Perceived Mental Health Awareness (PMHA) were evaluated. Participants aged 18 to 24 completed validated self-report measures assessing perceived stress, rumination subtypes, hopelessness, and depressive symptoms, along with single-item scales measuring PSES and PMHA. The data were gathered face-to-face through classroom test administration around August 2025. Serial and conditional mediation analyses revealed significant indirect effects in both the forward and reverse models, supporting the existence of a dynamic cognitive-affective feedback loop involving rumination and hopelessness. Brooding rumination and hopelessness emerged as key mediators, with partial mediation indicated by a significant direct effect of perceived stress on depression. Moderation analyses demonstrated that low PSES intensified the pathway from stress to depression, whereas high PSES attenuated early mediation effects. In contrast, PMHA did not significantly moderate any of the examined pathways. These findings suggest that perceptions of socioeconomic status may buffer the progression from stress to depression, while mental health awareness alone may be insufficient to disrupt this cascade. Interventions targeting brooding rumination and hopelessness, particularly among students with low perceived socioeconomic status, may enhance efforts in preventing and treating depression.