Appreciation of Others Buffers the Associations of Stressful Life Events with Depressive and Physical Symptoms

The current study is a cross-sectional examination of the stress-buffering effects of gratitude. Specifically, the purpose of this study was to examine whether various aspect of gratitudeappreciation of others, simple appreciation, and sense of abundancefunctioned equivalently as stress-buffers and alleviated negative psychological and physical reactions to life events. One-hundred eighty-one college students completed self-report, retrospective measures of dispositional gratitude, depressive symptoms, and physical symptoms, as well as the amount of stressful life events experienced. Data were analyzed using multiple hierarchical regression. The results of the analyses revealed significant statistical interactions between appreciation of others, stressful life events, and both depressive and physical symptoms. Specifically, participants reporting a greater sense of appreciation of others also reported lower levels of depressive and physical symptoms when experiencing stress. Our results are consistent with previous research that demonstrates the protective health benefits of gratitude but highlights the importance of considering the unique aspects of the different components of gratitude.