Effect of Gratitude on Mental Health with Mediating Role of Positive and Negative Affect

Aims: Gratitude is one of the new constructs of the positive psychological approach. Based on the researches, gratitude has an effective role in mental health and the other positive psychological functions. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of gratitude on mental health with the mediating role of positive and negative affect. Instruments & Methods: The present research is a descriptive-correlational study through the structural equation model (SEM). The statistical population included all students of medical sciences university of Sabzevar in the academic year of 2017-18. The study was carried out on 242 students, who were selected using the stratified random sampling method. The research tools were gratitude questionnaire-6 (GQ-6), general health questionnaire (GHQ-28), positive affect and negative affect scale (PANAS). Evaluating the proposed model was conducted in Amos 24 and SPSS 24 software through the Pearson correlation coefficient, the structural equation model, and the bootstrap method. Findings: There was a significant correlation between all variables of the research (p<0.01). The model had a good fit with some modification. The gratitude had a direct effect on mental health, positive and negative affect (p<0.05). Positive and negative affect had a direct effect on mental health (p<0.05). In addition, gratitude, via the positive and negative affect, had an indirect effect on mental health (p<0.05). Conclusion: Gratitude, directly and indirectly, by increasing the positive affect and decreasing the negative affect, is associated with higher mental health.