The impact of stressful events on mental health among college students during the COVID-19 pandemic a study of the chain-mediated effects of cognitive mood and sense of meaning in life

Abstract

To investigate the impact of stressful events during the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of contemporary college students and explore whether there is a mediating effect between emotional perceptions and the sense of meaning in life, we conducted a study. A self-administered questionnaire on post-pandemic stress events, a cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire, a questionnaire on the sense of meaning in life, and a psychological questionnaire on public health emergencies were administered to 1,644 college students (mean age (18.99±1.18) years old) in HunanProvince from February 29 to March 2, 2023. The results revealed the following findings: ① College students generally experienced stressful events related to epidemics; ② Cognitive emotions and the sense of meaning in life partially mediated the effects between stressful events and college students' mental health; ③ The sense of meaning in life partially counteracted the harms of stressful events on mental health. The sense of meaning in life predicted negative cognitive emotions negatively but positively predicted mental health status. Additionally, the sense of meaning in life was positively predicted for negative cognitive emotions but negatively predicted mental health status; it was negatively predicted for negative cognitive emotions but positively predicted mental health status. The study highlights the crucial mediating role of cognitive emotions and the sense of meaning in life in the impact of stressful events on mental health. Therefore, colleges and universities should enhance education on the meaning of life and mental health to help students cope with stressful events and improve their psychological adaptability.