ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Educational Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1510244
The Role of Hope, Academic Thriving, and Adaptive Coping in Fostering Peace of Mind among University Students: A Mixed-Methods Study
Provisionally accepted
Jing Shan*
Teng Xu- Shandong University of Technology, Zibo, Shandong, China
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This mixed-methods study examines the relationships between hope, academic thriving, adaptive coping, and peace of mind among university students in mainland China. Drawing on Snyder's Hope Theory and Schreiner's model of academic thriving, the research investigates how these psychological constructs contribute to students' emotional well-being in the context of academic stress. Quantitative data were collected from 562 undergraduate students using validated measures of hope, academic thriving, adaptive coping, and peace of mind, and analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results revealed that hope and academic thriving are both directly and indirectly associated with peace of mind, with adaptive coping playing a significant mediating role. Specifically, higher levels of hope and thriving predicted greater use of adaptive coping strategies, which, in turn, enhanced students' emotional tranquility and mental clarity.Additionally, qualitative data from semi-structured interviews and reflective journals provided nuanced insights into how students' hope, thriving, and coping strategies shaped their experiences of peace of mind. The findings suggest that promoting hope, fostering academic thriving, and teaching adaptive coping techniques can help students navigate academic challenges while maintaining emotional balance. Practical implications for educational interventions are discussed, with recommendations for integrating psychological support into university settings to enhance both academic and emotional well-being.
Keywords: hope, academic thriving, adaptive coping, Peace of mind, university students, Academic stress, emotional well-being, Mixed-methods study
Received: 12 Oct 2024; Accepted: 30 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Shan and Xu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jing Shan, Shandong University of Technology, Zibo, 255049, Shandong, China
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