Does grit protect against the adverse effects of depression on academic achievement?

by Jenna Kilgore, Amanda C. Collins, Julie Anne M. Miller, E. Samuel Winer

Depressive symptoms have been shown to be negatively related to academic achievement, as measured by grade point average (GPA). Grit, or the passion for and the ability to persevere toward a goal despite adversity, has been linked to GPA. Thus, grit may potentially buffer against the negative effects of depressive symptoms in relation to academic achievement. However, social desirability may might impact the validity of grit when assessed by self-report measures, so how these constructs are all related is unknown. The current study explored the relationship between depressive symptoms, grit, social desirability, and GPA among University students (N = 520) in the United States using a cross-sectional design. We conducted a moderated-moderation model to examine how social desirability moderated the relationship between depressive symptoms, grit, and GPA. Findings replicated prior work and indicated negative relationships between depressive symptoms and social desirability with GPA and a positive relationship, albeit non-significant, between grit and GPA. However, results suggest that grit did not moderate the relationship between depressive symptoms and GPA when including social desirability in the model. Future research should investigate this relationship in a longitudinal setting to further examine how grit and depressive symptoms influence one another in academic domains.