The dynamic impact of stress mindsets on fatigue: Insights from an ecological momentary assessment and RDSEM approach

Fatigue, a prevalent sub-health condition in modern society, is a common psychological and physiological consequence of stress, particularly among college students who frequently encounter academic and social challenges. Emerging evidence highlights the critical role of stress mindset-individuals' beliefs about the nature of stress-in shaping stress-related health outcomes. Using a residual dynamic structural equation modeling (RDSEM) approach, this study investigated within-person associations of positive and negative stress mindsets with fatigue throughout the stress process. A sample of 356 Chinese college students (75.84% female; M age = 20.66) completed five momentary surveys per day over seven consecutive days, assessing stress mindset, daily stressors, perceived stress, and fatigue. The results indicated that a negative stress mindset was more directly associated with fatigue, forming a bidirectional loop: stronger negative stress mindsets predicted greater fatigue, which in turn reinforced more negative stress mindsets, with a moderate effect size. In contrast, a positive stress mindset was linked to lower fatigue through a small indirect pathway via reduced perceived stress. It also weakened the association between daily stressors and perceived stress. These findings suggest that positive and negative stress mindsets function differently within the stress-fatigue process. This study extends existing models of stress and fatigue by integrating a mindset-based perspective and identifies valuable intervention targets for mitigating fatigue through the cultivation of adaptive stress beliefs.