Mediating role of negative meta-emotions on COVID stress and peritraumatic distress among adolescents in a post-pandemic era

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected adolescents' psychological well-being through prolonged disruptions in social, academic, and emotional functioning. The present cross-sectional study examined the association between COVID-19-related stress and peritraumatic distress among adolescents and explored the mediating role of negative meta-emotions in this relationship. Participants were 508 high school students aged 14-17 years from Karnataka and Kerala, India, selected using purposive sampling. Data were collected using the COVID Student Stress Questionnaire (CSSQ), the Meta-Emotions Scale (MES), and the Peritraumatic Distress Inventory (PDI). The findings indicated that higher levels of COVID-19-related stress were associated with greater peritraumatic distress and higher negative meta-emotions. Negative meta-emotions were also significantly associated with peritraumatic distress and statistically mediated the relationship between COVID-19 stress and peritraumatic distress. These findings suggest that adolescents' emotional responses toward their own emotions may play an important role in understanding psychological distress following pandemic-related experiences. The study contributes to the limited literature on meta-emotions in adolescent trauma-related research within the Indian context. The findings highlight the importance of interventions that promote meta-emotional awareness and adaptive emotional regulation strategies to reduce psychological distress among adolescents following large-scale stressful events.