The Mediating Role of the Primary Emotional Systems and Rumination on the Relationship Between Resilience and Perceived Stress

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to analyze the potential mediating influence of primary emotional systems and rumination on the relationship between resilience and perceived stress. Method: A sample of 503 undergraduate students completed a self-report battery including the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS), the Ruminative Responses Scale-Brief Form (RRS-BF), and the Affective Neuroscience Personality Scale (ANPS). Common method bias was assessed and found not to be a significant concern. Hypothesized relationships and indirect effects were tested using path analysis and mediation analysis (bootstrapping), with model fit assessed via CFI, TLI, RMSEA, and BIC indices. Results: The final model, controlling for gender and age, demonstrated good fit (χ2/df = 2.91, RMSEA = 0.068, TLI = 0.963, CFI = 0.998). Resilience was negatively associated with the FEAR, SADNESS, and ANGER systems, brooding, and perceived stress (all p<0.001). FEAR and SADNESS were positively associated with brooding and perceived stress. Brooding was positively associated with perceived stress. Bootstrap analyses confirmed significant indirect effects of resilience on perceived stress through FEAR, SADNESS, ANGER, and brooding (β= -0.253, p = 0.011). Conclusion: Resilience capacity may influence stress evaluation through its relationship with primary emotional systems and rumination. These findings suggest that interactions between subcortical emotional mechanisms and cortical processes play a role in stress perception. Further research should investigate negative primary emotional systems as potential neuromodulation targets in stress processing.