Losing ground: Social identity loss predicts depression following a life transition

Life transitions can be a positive life experience and provide opportunities for personal growth. However, undergoing a life transition can also be stressful and overwhelming and precipitate depression. The stress-buffering hypothesis (Cohen & Wills, 1985) postulates that social support buffers against the negative effects of stressful life events and can attenuate the development of depressive symptoms, but unfortunately has not been well-supported by longitudinal studies. In contrast, the social identity approach to wellbeing (Jetten, Haslam, & Haslam, 2012) suggests that group memberships lead to substantial health benefits, with an emerging number of studies showing promising results. Based on this approach, the present study assesses how changes in social identification during a life transition affect mental wellbeing and depression throughout the life transition. First-year International students (N = 52) reported their group memberships and wellbeing at the beginning and end of their first semester of studies, approximately four months later. Results show that lack of important group memberships at the end of the transition contributes to increased levels of depressive symptoms, even when controlling for initial levels of depression and important group memberships at the beginning of the transition. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed in relation to these results