Measures to Enhance University Students' Mental Health through Improving Social Support and Psychological Resilience
Keywords
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Context: The mental health of contemporary university students is influenced by various stressors, including academic, career, and social adaptation pressures. Among these, social support and psychological resilience are considered crucial protective factors, however, the underlying mechanisms through which these factors impact students' mental health remain to be elucidated. This study utilised a quantitative cross-sectional descriptive design to analyse the relationships among social support, psychological resilience, and the mental health of university students.
Result: The findings indicate that social support positively influences psychological resilience and reduces stress and depression among students. Furthermore, psychological resilience mediates the relationship between social support and stress. However, this mediating role was not observed regarding anxiety and depression.
Discussion: The research findings confirm the pivotal roles of social support and psychological resilience in safeguarding the mental health of university students. Based on these outcomes, several measures are proposed: enhancing support resources from families, educational institutions, and the community, while concurrently developing psychological resilience for students, in order to mitigate mental health risks and enhance students' adaptability in the current context.
Downloads
References
Ahmed, Z., & Julius, S. H. (2015). Academic performance, resilience, depression, anxiety and stress among women college students. Indian Journal of Positive Psychology, 6(4), 367-370.
Awang, M., Faridah, K., & Ahmad, A. (2014). Perceived social support and well being: First year student experience in university. International Education Studies, 7(13), 261-261. https://doi.org/10.5539/ies.v7n13p261
Campbell, F., Blank, L., Cantrell, A., Baxter, S., Blackmore, C., Dixon, J., & Goyder, E. (2022). Factors that influence mental health of university and college students in the UK: A systematic review. BMC Public Health, 22, Article 1778. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-13943-x
Carver, C. S. (1998). Resilience and thriving: Issues, models, and linkages. Journal of Social Issues, 54(2), 245-266. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1998.tb01217.x
Cohen, S., & Wills, T. A. (1985). Stress, social support, and the buffering hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin, 98(2), 310-357.
Connor, K. M., & Davidson, J. R. T. (2003). Development of a new resilience scale: The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC). Depression and Anxiety, 18(2), 76-82. https://doi.org/10.1002/da.10113
Dessauvagie, A., Dang, H., Nguyen, T., & Groen, G. (2021). Mental Health of University Students in Southeastern Asia: A Systematic Review. Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health, 34, 172-181. https://doi.org/10.1177/10105395211055545
Feng, L., & Zhang, L. (2022). Perceived teacher support, peer relationship, and university students’ mental health: The mediation of reality and internet altruistic behaviors. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, Article 999524. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.999524
George, D., & Mallery, P. (2019). IBM SPSS statistics 26 step by step: A simple guide and reference (16th ed.). Routledge.
Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2019). Multivariate data analysis (8th ed.). Pearson Education.
Hobfoll, S. E. (1989). Conservation of resources: A new attempt at conceptualizing stress. American Psychologist, 44(3), 513-524.
House, J. S., Landis, K. R., & Umberson, D. (1988). Social relationships and health. Science, 241(4865), 540-545. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.3399889
Hồ Thị Trúc Quỳnh, Nguyễn Văn Bắc (2021). Hỗ trợ xã hội và trầm cảm ở sinh viên Đại học Huế: Vai trò điều tiết của lòng tự trọng. Tạp chí Tâm lí học, 4(265), 47-59.
Hu, S., Cai, D., Zhang, X. C., & Margraf, J. (2022). Relationship between social support and positive mental health: A three-wave longitudinal study on college students. Current Psychology, 41(10), 6712-6721. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-01175-4
Huynh, N. Linh, Le, T. T. Trang, Nguyen, T. T. Uyen, Pham, T. Tin, Truong, T. Nam, & Vo, H. Nghia. (2025). Prevalence and determinants of mental health problems among Vietnamese undergraduate students across academic disciplines. Indian Journal of Community Medicine, 50(Suppl 3), S417-S426. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijcm.ijcm_810_24
Johnson-Esparza, Y., Espinosa, P. R., Verney, S. P., Boursaw, B., & Smith, B. W. (2021). Social support protects against symptoms of anxiety and depression: Key variations in Latinx and Non-Latinx white college students. Journal of Latinx Psychology, 9(2), 161-178. https://doi.org/10.1037/lat0000184
Lovibond, S. H., & Lovibond, P. F. (1995). Manual for the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (2nd ed.). Psychology Foundation of Australia.
Nguyen, T. M., Tran, M. A. Q., & Le, G. N. H. (2024). Psychometric validation of the Brief Resilience Scale in the sample of Vietnamese university student. Journal of College Student Mental Health, 38(3), 648-663. https://doi.org/10.1080/87568225.2023.2231348
Smith, B. W., Dalen, J., Wiggins, K., Tooley, E., Christopher, P., & Bernard, J. (2008). The brief resilience scale: Assessing the ability to bounce back. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 15(3), 194-200. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705500802222972
Tuyen, N., Dat, T. Q., & Nhung, H. (2019). Prevalence of depressive symptoms and its related factors among students at Tra Vinh University, Vietnam in 2018. AIMS Public Health, 6, 307-319. https://doi.org/10.3934/publichealth.2019.3.307
Vũ Xuân Anh (2025). Trải nghiệm bất lợi thời thơ ấu và khả năng tự phục hồi tâm lí của sinh viên. Tạp chí Giáo dục và Xã hội, 2(1), 216-222.
Zimet, G. D., Dahlem, N. W., Zimet, S. G., & Farley, G. K. (1988). The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Journal of Personality Assessment, 52(1), 30-41. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa5201_2
