THE MEDIATING ROLE OF ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN OPTIMISM AND DEPRESSION IN EMERGING ADULTS

The existing literature showed that higher depression is linked to less optimism and to poor quality of romantic relationship, but studies considering the role of both optimism and romantic relationship on depression among emerging adults are lacking. The aims of the study were: 1) to describe the quality of romantic relationship, optimism and depression in a group of Italian emerging adults; 2) to examine the relation between optimism and depression; 3) to investigate the possible mediating role of quality of romantic relationship on the relation between optimism and depression. The study involved 228 emerging adults (59% girls), aged from 18 to 22 (mean age= 19.5, standard deviation=1.2). Optimism was assessed through the Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R; Scheier et al., 1994), depression through the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Short Depression Scale (CES-D 10; Andresen et al., 1994) and quality of romantic relationships through the Romance Qualities Scale (RQS; Ponti et al., 2010). Main results showed a partial mediating effect of quality of romantic relationship between optimism and depression: less optimistic emerging adults reported higher depression, but the effect of lack of optimism was mediated by a good relationship with the partner. Implications for theory and practice were discussed.