Effect of socioeconomic status on emerging adults' positive mental health: roles of relative deprivation, thwarted belongingness, and meaning in life.

Socioeconomic status (SES) has a profound impact on emerging adults' mental health. However, it remains unknown how SES links to positive mental health (PMH). The objective of the present study was to investigate the association between SES and PMH, while also examining the potential impacts of relative deprivation, thwarted belongingness, and meaning in life (ML). Recruited from one university in southwest China, 1,250 university students completed online self-measures of SES, relative deprivation, thwarted belongingness, ML, and PMH. The findings revealed that SES went along with less relative deprivation and thwarted belongingness, and went along with higher levels of ML and PMH. Further analyses based on Structural Equation Modeling indicated that relative deprivation and thwarted belongingness served as mediators in the relationship between SES and PMH. The aforementioned findings offer empirical support for the chain mediation model "SES - relative deprivation - thwarted belongingness - PMH". Additionally, moderated mediation analyses revealed that ML moderated the negative impact of thwarted belongingness on PMH. Consequently, this study contributes to enhancing our comprehension of how SES is linked to PMH and highlights the protective role of ML among Chinese emerging adults. This study suggests that intervention measures should prioritize emerging adults with low SES and a lack of ML to promote their PMH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]