Social support and emotion regulation self-efficacy in nursing staff during public health emergencies: The mediating role of positive affect

OBJECTIVE: To explore the mediating role of nurses' positive affect in the relationship between social support and emotional regulation self-efficacy during public health emergencies. METHODS: Convenience sampling was used to survey 331 nurses who were reassigned to support other departments between December 2022 and July 2023. Data were collected using the General Demographic Questionnaire, Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS), Emotional Regulation Self-Efficacy Scale (ERSE), and Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). Mediation analysis was conducted using Model 4 of the PROCESS macro (Hayes, 2013). RESULTS: Nurses reported moderate levels of social support (M = 40.68), moderately high levels of emotional regulation self-efficacy (M = 45.17) and positive affect (M = 33.22). Social support was positively correlated with both emotional regulation self-efficacy (rₛ = 0.357, p < 0.01) and positive affect (rₛ = 0.294, p < 0.01). Positive affect, in turn, was strongly correlated with emotional regulation self-efficacy (rₛ = 0.677, p < 0.01). Mediation analysis revealed that positive affect partially mediated the relationship between social support and self-efficacy (indirect effect = 0.179), accounting for 47.61% of the total effect. CONCLUSION: During public health emergencies, positive affect serves as a crucial psychological mechanism for the positive association between social support and nurses' emotional regulation self-efficacy. The moderate mediating effect (47.61%) suggests that positive affect is a key actionable node for nursing psychological interventions. Nursing administrators should prioritise interventions that strengthen both social support systems and positive affect resources to improve nurses' psychological resilience and care quality.