The influence of resilience on stress reaction of college students during COVID-19: the mediating role of coping style and positive adaptive response

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic was a stressful event for all. It threatened people’s physical and mental health. Previous studies have found that resilience can help people deal with stress and difficulties more effectively and prevent them from mental health problems. Coping style mediates the relationship between resilience and psychological well-being. Given the novelty and recency of the COVID-19, it is unknown whether resilience can also protect individuals in new difficulties, and whether the previous effective coping styles can be applied to new situations. The current study aimed to explore the influence mechanism of college students’ resilience on negative stress response during the pandemic, and the chain mediation of coping style and positive adaptive response. A questionnaire survey was conducted among 910 college students (M age = 20.58 years; 41.1% men, 58.9% women) studying in Shanghai by stratified random cluster sampling. At that time, they were in 27 different provinces and cities because of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. The research tools included Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire (SCSQ), Positive Adaptive Response Questionnaire (PARQ), and Negative Stress Reaction Questionnaire (NSRQ). The results showed that: (1) College students’ resilience, coping style, positive adaptive response and negative stress reaction were significantly correlated with each other; (2) Resilience could not directly affect negative stress reaction, but it could affect negative stress reaction through the chain mediation of coping style and positive adaptive response. These findings suggest that resilience enhancement intervention programs need to focus on the cultivation of individual positive coping style; In response to major emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic, officials can help people reduce negative stress reaction by disseminating positive coping strategies through the media.

Effects of physical activity on depression, anxiety, and stress in college students: the chain-based mediating role of psychological resilience and coping styles

“…Moreover, physical activity can also reduce the level of cortisol, a stress hormone, and improve the immune system ( Gerber et al, 2020 ; Xu et al, 2021 ). Physical activity serves as a beneficial coping mechanism for negative emotions, especially during the quarantine period caused by the COVID-19 pandemic ( Xu and Yang, 2023 ). Some studies have demonstrated a negative correlation between moderate physical activity and negative emotions in college students ( Aperocho et al, 2021 ; Tao et al, 2023 ).…”

“…Psychological resilience has been found to predict the adoption of positive coping styles and inversely predict negative ones ( Blanco et al, 2008 ). Individuals exhibiting high psychological resilience tend to adopt positive coping styles and are more proactive in addressing and resolving negative emotions ( Gong et al, 2023 ; Xu and Yang, 2023 ). Therefore, the mechanism through which physical activity affects negative emotions may be attributed to the influence of psychological resilience and coping styles on college students’ negative emotions.…”

COVID-19 Stressors and Aggression among Chinese College Students: The Mediation Role of Coping Strategies

“…From this perspective, coping reflects the ability of an individual to relieve stress. As suggest by Agnew [ 42 ], stress is most likely to result in delinquency when “the constraints to delinquent coping are low and the constraints to nondelinquent coping are high, and the adolescent has a disposition for delinquent coping.” Coping is one of the critical mediating factors in the relationship between psychological stress and related consequences [ 43 ]. A large amount of empirical evidence also shows that adolescents’ responses to stress, including their coping styles, will lead to different consequences [ 44 , 45 ].…”