Generalized Trust as a Protective Factor for Depressive Symptoms: Evidence from the European Social Survey

Mentus, Vladimir (2025) Generalized Trust as a Protective Factor for Depressive Symptoms: Evidence from the European Social Survey. In: XXXI Scientific Conference Empirical Studies in Psychology. Издавач Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade; Laboratory for experimental psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, p. 90. ISBN 978-86-6427-350-3

Text EIP2025_book_of_abstracts (1).pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives. Download (313kB)

Abstract

Although the determinants of depressive symptoms have been extensively studied across various groups, generalized trust has largely been neglected in this context, particularly in nationally representative samples. Previous research has shown that many forms of social capital – such as personal relationships, social support, and community engagement – can act as protective factors against the development of depression. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that this dimension of social capital would also be positively associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms. We analyzed nationally representative data from 24 European countries, collected as part of the eleventh round of the European Social Survey in 2023 and 2024, which included a total of 40,156 respondents. Depressive symptoms were measured using the CES-D 8 scale, with scores ranging from 0 to 24, where higher scores indicate more severe depressive symptoms. Generalized trust was assessed using the 11-point Social Trust Scale of the European Social Survey, consisting of three items. Additionally, 13 control variables identified as potentially relevant according to previous research were included in the regression model: gender, age, education, household income, social connections, subjective health, exposure to financial difficulties during childhood, exposure to household conflict during childhood, being discriminated, being unemployed, being divorced, being widowed, and average satisfaction with the economy in the country. The results of the two-level HLM analysis reveal a significant negative association between generalized trust and depressive symptoms (b = -.200, SE = .011, p < .001), confirming our hypothesis. Specifically, for each one-unit increase in generalized trust, the expected value of depressive symptoms decreases by 0.2 units. Finally, the low intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC = .022) indicates that most of the variation in depressive symptoms is attributable to differences within countries, rather than between them. Our analysis supports previous findings regarding the protective role of social capital against the development of depression, which is particularly important given the scale of its global rise in recent times.

Actions (login required)

View Item