How Social Support Influences Negative Emotions in College Students: The Mediating Role of Intentional Self-regulation and Dispositional Hope

Objective—To explore the relationship between individual social support and negative emotions on the basis of understanding the depression, anxiety and stress of college students in the new era, and to further explore the functional path between the two. Methods A questionnaire survey was conducted among 437 randomly selected college students using the short-form version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21), the Perceived Social Support Scale (PSSS), the Intentional Self-Regulation Questionnaire, and the Adult Dispositional Hope Scale (ADHS). Results—(1) The scores of DASS-21, PSSS, Intentional Self-Regulation Questionnaire and ADHS were (14.780±10.046), (63.183±10.559), (36.144±4.093) and (22.238±3.255), respectively; (2) Perceived social support, intentional self-regulation, and dispositional hope exhibited significant positive correlations with one another (r=0.547～0.680; Ps<0.001). Additionally, these variables were significantly negatively correlated with negative emotions (r =-0.596～-0.482; Ps<0.001). Conclusion—The perceived social support among college students in the new era has a significant impact on their negative emotions. Meanwhile, intentional self-regulation and dispositional hope play a chain mediating role between perceived social support and negative emotions.