In the current field of contemporary psychology, ecological psychology has become a new theoretical orientation, believing that everything in the ecosystem interacts and is interrelated. Depressive Personality Disorder (DPD) is a common and severe mental illness that is common among college students worldwide. Exploring the factors influencing depression among college students from the perspective of ecological psychology, with a focus on the effects of attachment anxiety, self-esteem cognition, and academic adaptation on depression among Chinese college students.

In this study, 452 college students from Nanjing University in Jiangsu Province were assessed by Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS), Adult Attachment Scale (AAS) and Self-esteem and Academic Adjustment Scale (SES). Amos software was used to conduct confirmatory factor analysis on the survey results.

There were significant differences in the dimensions of academic adaptation, self-esteem and adult attachment (P=0.000, P<0.05), and there were significant differences between gender and total score of depression (t= -2.098, P<0.05). Attachment anxiety not only predicts depression directly but also indirectly through self-esteem. Academic adaptation not only predicts depression directly but also influences depressive anxiety through the mediating effects of self-esteem and attachment.

Academic adjustment, depression disorder, attachment anxiety and self-esteem were significantly correlated with depression disorder in college students. Self-esteem plays a mediating role between attachment anxiety and depression, and attachment anxiety and self-esteem play a mediating role between academic adaptation and depression.

2021 Research Project on Internet Ideological and Political Work in Guangdong Colleges and Universities (No. GDWL21YB99).