Depression is one of the most common disorders worldwide, including in Mexico. Engagement coping and optimism promote mental health, so understanding the mediation of optimism between coping strategies with depression helps to identify the psychological resources that young people can use to mitigate depression. This study aims to test the direct and indirect effects of four coping strategies through three optimism factors on affective depression in a mediator path model in young people. In a cross-sectional study, 848 young Mexican people completed the evaluation instruments of the Trait Depression Inventory, Mexican Optimism Scale (MOS), and Coping Strategies (CSI-SF). Moderate mediation analysis was performed. Optimism and coping strategies significantly predict depression. Furthermore, optimism mediated the association between problem-focused engagement coping and depressive symptoms. Problem- and emotion-focused coping and optimism protect young people from depression. Likewise, young people with greater optimism use problem-focused engagement coping, which reduces depressive symptoms. Psychosocial interventions that promote positive outlook, affective resources, and hope combined with engagement coping strategies are suggested for the management of depression.

Interventions based on positive psychology are an effective alternative to reduce symptoms of emotional distress and prevent mental health problems. However, little is known about the evaluation of kindness on unpleasant emotional states. The objective is to evaluate the feasibility of an intervention focused on acts of kindness on anxiety, depression and stress in university students. Three men and two women participated in an intervention of three weekly sessions, and pre- post evaluation. A multi-element single-case design was carried out with five replicates where the effect size was calculated using the percentage of non-overlapping data and the reliable change index. In the results, the post-intervention evaluation showed a significant change index for depression, anxiety and stress. However, the size of the effect was questionable. From the results, we can affirm that the feasibility study offers data in favor of the component of acts of kindness as an intervention on negative affect. However, it is recommended to evaluate the effect size with larger samples and more robust statistical indices.