Weiyu Wang,1 Xiqing Wang,2 You Yu2 

1College of Teacher Education, Jishou University, Jishou, Hunan, People’s Republic of China; 2College of Special Education, Beijing Union University, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

Correspondence: You Yu, College of Special Education, Beijing Union University, 1 Puhuangyu Road Alley 2, Fengtai District, Beijing, 100075, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86-10-6761-9947, Email tjtyuyou@buu.edu.cn

Objective: This study investigated the impact of COVID-19-related stress events on the mental health of home-quarantined college students and explored the mediating role of negative cognitive emotion regulation and the moderating role of meaning in life.
Methods: An online survey was conducted among 1,644 college students in Hunan, China, from February 29 to March 2, 2020. The survey included measures of COVID-19-related stress events, negative cognitive emotion regulation, meaning in life (present meaning and search for meaning), and overall psychological distress.
Results: Most college students experienced significant COVID-19-related stress during home quarantine. Negative cognitive emotion regulation partially mediated the relationship between stress events and mental health. Meaning in life (both dimensions) buffered the effect of stress events on negative cognitive emotion regulation, such that this association was attenuated at higher levels of meaning. Specifically, when students reported higher levels of meaning in life, the adverse effect of stress events on negative cognitive emotion regulation was significantly attenuated, highlighting the protective role of meaning in life against maladaptive emotional responses. When students reported high levels of meaning in life, the association between stress events and negative cognitive emotion regulation was diminished.
Conclusion: Our findings highlight that fostering meaning in life may serve as a psychological resource to enhance mental health resilience among college students during and after pandemics. Interventions aimed at promoting meaning in life could be beneficial for supporting the mental well-being of students in stressful situations.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, college students, mental health, cognitive emotion regulation, meaning in life