Changes in Depressive Symptoms in Response to a Significant Stressor in College

Changes in depressive symptoms in response to the experience of a first high-impact stressor (i.e., a stressor rated as both very upsetting and very disruptive) in college were examined as an indicator of student resilience. Participants were 953 college undergraduates from four institutions participating in a larger longitudinal study of student resilience and well-being; 703 of these students reported experiencing at least one high-impact stressor during their time in college. Using piecewise growth modeling analyses with timepoints (n = 8) nested within individuals (n = 703), findings showed that, on average, students reported increased depressive symptoms when experiencing a “high-impact” stressor and showed a pattern of recovery over time, whereby depressive symptoms decreased gradually following the stressor. Self-compassion moderated the effect of experiencing a high-impact stressor such that students higher in self-compassion showed a muted pattern of stress response and recovery. Experiencing subsequent high-impact stressors was associated with increased depressive symptoms and slower recovery. Indicators of availability and quality of social support were negatively associated with depressive symptoms but did not moderate stress response or recovery. Previous exposure to stress and self-reported resilience predicted neither level of depressive symptoms nor stress response or recovery. Implications for efforts to promote community well-being in higher education are discussed. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.