In China, college students have become a high-risk group for depression. Maladaptive attentional bias and interpretation bias are significant factors contributing to the onset and maintenance of depression. Previous studies have examined the characteristics of attentional and interpretation biases in depressed individuals, yet the mechanisms through which these biases influence depression remain unclear.

This study aimed to investigate the relationships between negative attentional bias, interpretation bias and depression among college students, as well as to explore the mediating and moderating effects of interpretation bias in the association between attentional bias and depression.

Using a random sampling method, 66 university students from Xinyang University were selected as research participants between January and February 2023. The Beck Depression Inventory (2nd Edition) (BDI-Ⅱ) was used to assess the participants' depressive symptoms. An eye tracker was employed to record the participants' total gaze time bias scores, and bias interpretation materials were distributed to collect interpretation bias scores from the participants. The analysis of correlation was conducted using Spearman's correlation analysis, the mediation effect was tested using PROCESS, and the moderating effect of interpretation bias was examined through linear regression.

Depression scores were positively correlated with total gaze duration bias scores (r_s=0.688, P<0.01) and negatively correlated with relative interpretation bias scores (r_s=-0.731, P<0.01). Additionally, total gaze duration bias scores and relative interpretation bias scores showed a negative correlation (r_s=-0.580, P<0.01). The indirect effect of interpretation bias was 0.278, accounting for 42% of the total effect (95%CI=0.148-0.453), confirming its mediating role. Furthermore, the interaction between total gaze duration bias and relative interpretation bias was significant (β=-3.479, P<0.05), indicating a moderating effect of interpretation bias.

Negative attentional bias, interpretation bias and depression are significantly interrelated among college students. Negative attentional bias not only directly influences depression but also indirectly exacerbates it through interpretation bias. Moreover, interpretation bias moderates the impact of attentional bias on depression, suggesting that adaptive interpretation patterns may mitigate the adverse effects of negative attentional processing.