To investigate the positive and negative affect of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), explore the effect of social support, self-efficacy and psychological resilience on positive and negative affect and relationships among these factors, and provide reference for improving the emotional health of SLE patients.

This was a cross-sectional survey. From February to May 2021, 142 SLE patients attending the outpatient clinic of the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology of West China Hospital, Sichuan University were selected by convenience sampling. Participants were investigated by the general information questionnaire, Perceived Social Support Scale, General Self-efficacy Scale, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, and Positive and Negative Affect Schedule. And path analysis was performed to analyze the effect of social support, self-efficacy and psychological resilience on positive and negative affect.

A total of 127 valid questionnaires were collected, with an effective response rate of 89.44%. The positive and negative affect scores of 127 SLE patients were (28.09±7.31) and (25.83±8.10) points. And the positive rate (ratio of positive to negative affect) was 1.09; positive affect was positively correlated with social support, self-efficacy and psychological resilience (r=0.412, 0.448, 0.533, all P<0.01), and negative affect was negatively associated with social support, self-efficacy and psychological resilience (r=-0.313, -0.239, -0.382, all P<0.01); the results of the path analysis showed that the standardized total effects of social support, self-efficacy and psychological resilience on positive and negative affect in SLE patients were 0.341, 0.313, 0.632 and -0.237, -0.218, -0.439, respectively. There were significant mediating effects between social support and positive and negative affect (95% CI 0.035 -0.111, -0.087- -0.026) mediated by self-efficacy and psychological resilience. Social support could affect positive and negative affect through psychological resilience (β=0.104, -0.080, both P<0.01) and through self-efficacy and psychological resilience (β=0.065, -0.050, both P<0.01).

Social support, self-efficacy and psychological resilience are the primary factors influencing positive and negative affect in SLE patients. Increasing social support to encourage patients to take social participation more actively and improving the self-efficacy as well as psychological resilience are ought to do for promoting their emotional health.

Lupus erythematosus, systemic; Emotions; Social support; Self-efficacy; Psychological resilience; Path analysis