Perceived National Resilience and Mental Well‐Being Among Emerging Adults at Risk for Depression: Indirect Associations Through Peace of Mind and Life Satisfaction

AIM: Emerging adulthood is a developmentally sensitive period during which broader societal conditions may be relevant to mental health, particularly among individuals already experiencing elevated depressive distress. Guided by the psychosocial pathways model, this study examined the association between perceived national resilience and mental well-being among Filipino emerging adults at risk for depression and estimated parallel indirect associations through peace of mind and life satisfaction. METHODS: A cross-sectional online survey included 920 emerging adults aged 18-29 years residing in the Greater Manila Area who scored ≥ 7 on the depression component of the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale. Parallel mediation analysis adjusted for age, sex assigned at birth and household income and used 5000 bias-corrected bootstrap resamples. RESULTS: Perceived national resilience was positively associated with mental well-being (total effect: B = 1.395, 95% CI [1.072, 1.720], β = 0.314). Significant indirect associations were observed through peace of mind (B = 0.739, 95% CI [0.593, 0.890], β = 0.166) and life satisfaction (B = 0.077, 95% CI [0.014, 0.165], β = 0.017). The full model explained 43.7% of the variance in mental well-being. CONCLUSION: Perceived national resilience and proximal psychological assets were associated with mental well-being among emerging adults at risk for depression. Peace of mind represented the stronger indirect pathway, supporting attention to both perceived societal conditions and individual psychological resources in preventive and early mental health research.