**5. Social well-being**

### **5.1 SWB, social support, and suicidality**

Gaskin-Wasson et al. [37] explored the relationship between spiritual well-being, depression, suicidality, and interpersonal needs in a sample of African American females who had experienced a suicide attempt and intimate partner violence within the last year. SWB was negatively associated with suicidality, depression, and thwarted interpersonal needs. Thwarted belongingness significantly mediated the relationship between SWB and depression. Results suggest SWB protects against depression and suicidality.

In a sample of 176 adolescents in low-income and marginalized families in Malaysia, Ibrahim et al. [38] found higher levels of RWB, EWB, family support, and friend support were associated with lower levels of suicidal ideation. Lower levels of SWB, RWB, and family support also predicted an adolescent was more likely to report suicidal ideation, suggesting both social and spiritual well-being protect against suicidal ideation.

### **5.2 SWB, social support, and depression**

In a study conducted in Iran during the COVID-19 pandemic, Sharif Nia et al. [39] analyzed the relationship between spiritual well-being, social support, financial

### *The Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS) as an Indicator of General Well-Being DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.106776*

stress, and depressive symptoms. SWB and social support were negatively related to depression levels. Social support indirectly impacted depression through SWB and financial distress, with effects of 12.08% and 13.62% respectively. The effect of SWB on depression accounted for 56.69% of the variance and the effect of SWB on financial distress was 22.09% of the variance. Akbari et al. [40] explored the relationship between social support, SWB, and post-partum depression within mothers in Iran; a comparison group of non-depressed post-partum mothers was utilized. In a sample of 44 mothers with diagnoses of post-partum depression, 73.3% reported perceptions of low social support and 22.7% reported high scores on the SWBS. Among the non-depressed group, 72.4% reported perceptions of high social support and 58% reported high scores on the SWBS. Results across both studies indicate SWB and perception of social support contributed to protecting against depression amid life transition, demonstrating fewer depressive symptoms among participants during a global pandemic and in mothers with post-partum depression.
