Resilience, Stress, and Mental Health Among University Students: A Test of the Resilience Portfolio Model

Overview

Journal Stress Health

Specialties Psychology
Public Health

Date 2024 Dec 6

PMID 39641152

Authors

Shichen Fang

Erin Barker

Gaya Arasaratnam

Victoria Lane

Debora Rabinovich

Alexandra Panaccio

Roisin M OConnor

Cat Tuong Nguyen

Marina M Doucerain

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

In recent years, post-secondary students' mental health has become an important public health concern. However, studies examining protective factors of mental health among students and during challenging times are limited. Guided by the strength-based Resilience Portfolio Model and following a group of undergraduates (N = 1004) throughout the 2020/2021 academic year, this study examined multiple domains of resilience internal assets and external resources and simultaneously tested multiple protective mechanisms for student mental health using structural equation modelling. Results provided support for insulating effects: both internal assets such as emotion regulation and external recourses such as social network supportiveness and cultural fit in university (i.e., perceived congruity between students' personal and cultural selves and their university environment) were associated with reducing academic stress which in turn promoted student mental health at the end of the academic year. There was also support for additive effects: greater cultural fit in university was also directly related to better end-of-year student mental health. As cultural fit in university was associated both directly and indirectly with student mental health, creating an inclusive university community may help reduce student academic stress, lower student psychological distress and improve student subjective well-being.

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