Abstract
Coronavirus (COVID-19) has greatly impacted people‘s lives, including those of students in higher education, who have experienced drastic changes causing high levels of stress and decreased well-being. The relationship between stress and well-being can be viewed through the lens of psychological flexibility and loneliness. Individuals who experience high stress tend to be psychologically inflexible and have avoidant/maladaptive coping strategies. As a result, they are also vulnerable to loneliness, which ultimately results in decreased in well-being. In this study, of 945 student-participants, 43.28% met the criterion for high loneliness, 21.9% reported high perceived stress, 69.8% reflected high psychological inflexibility, and their mean score for well-being was 54.45. Serial mediation analysis found that psychological flexibility and loneliness partially mediate the relationship between stress and well-being. However, stress can affect well-being directly but also indirectly through psychological inflexibility and loneliness. A high level of stress, with a low level of psychological flexibility, results in a high level of loneliness; hence well-being decreases. Interventions promoting psychological flexibility can help individuals adapt and cope with difficult situations during the pandemic.
Highlights
Coronavirus (COVID-19) has greatly impacted people‘s lives, including those of students in higher education, who have experienced drastic changes causing high levels of stress and decreased wellbeing
We explored several demographic variables significant to mental health outcomes: age, gender, education level, residences, income level, mental health history, and duration of COVID-19 impact
43.28% met the criterion for high loneliness, 21.9% for high perceived stress, and 69.8% for low psychological flexibility
Summary
Coronavirus (COVID-19) has greatly impacted people‘s lives, including those of students in higher education, who have experienced drastic changes causing high levels of stress and decreased wellbeing. Individuals who experience high stress tend to be psychologically inflexible and have avoidant/maladaptive coping strategies. As a result, they are vulnerable to loneliness, which results in decreased in well-being. Psychological flexibility is comprised of essential processes that help individuals manage stress, become more adaptive, and promote value-based action (Gloster et al, 2017). Such flexibility is especially advantageous when most circumstances are beyond individuals’ control, making it impossible to change the situation (Doorley et al, 2020; Smith et al, 2020). Interventions to increase psychological flexibility can effectively reduce stress and psychological problems (Martine Fledderus et al, 2013; Hayes et al, 2012; Steenhaut et al, 2019)
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