ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Health Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1571275
This article is part of the Research TopicHealth and Psychological Adaptations to Life Challenges and Stressful ConditionsView all 9 articles
Emotion Regulation Strategies and Mental Well-being Among Chinese College Students During COVID-19: The Moderating Roles of Confinement and Attentional Bias
Provisionally accepted
- 1Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China
- 2Guangdong Polytechnic Normal University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
- 3Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Social Cognitive Neuroscience and Mental Health, Department of Psychology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangdong, China
- 4Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disease, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
- 5Beijing Huilongguan Hospital, Peking University, Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
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Background During COVID-19, confinement measures were implemented to curb the epidemic spread. While effective in reducing infections, these measures likely deteriorated the psychological well-being of students due to school closures and isolation.Methods This study analyzed 13,109 valid questionnaires from individuals aged 18-24 years (mean 20.28 ± 1.518) to explore how emotion regulation strategies (cognitive reappraisal and expression suppression) impact mental well-being through attentional biases (positive and negative), with confinement as three moderators.Cognitive reappraisal was positively associated with mental well-being, whereas expression suppression showed a negative association. Positive attentional bias was associated with higher well-being, whereas negative bias was linked to lower levels 2 of it. Negative attentional bias was linked to a stronger positive association between cognitive reappraisal and mental well-being, as well as a more pronounced negative association with expression suppression. Confinement was associated with a stronger positive relation between cognitive reappraisal and mental well-being, while corresponding to a more negative relation with expression suppression.Our findings highlight the complex interplay between emotion regulation strategies and mental well-being during confinement. Cognitive reappraisal and positive attentional bias are associated with protective effects, while expression suppression and negative bias are linked to detrimental effects. Confinement measures, despite their positive impact on physical health, significantly modulate these effects. Tailored interventions considering individual differences and contexts are needed to support mental well-being in similar crises.
Keywords: Confinement Situation, emotion regulation strategies, Mental well-being, attentional bias, COVID - 19
Received: 05 Feb 2025; Accepted: 08 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Xiao, Wang, Zhuang, Luo, Liu, Lin, Gao 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:
Dingguo Gao, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, Guangdong Province, China
Jiahua Xu, Beijing Huilongguan Hospital, Peking University, Beijing, 100096, Beijing Municipality, China
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