Positive affect is indirectly related to symptoms of anxiety in tertiary education students via coping resources
Creators: name: Tuck, David
name: Berger, Emily
name: Patlamazoglou, Lefteris
name: Wiley, Joshua F.
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2024
Subjects: Medicine
Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
Science Policy
Mental Health

description: Mental illnesses disproportionately affect young people, and tertiary education students experience higher levels of mental illness compared to other young people. Preventive strategies would be useful for improving tertiary students’ mental health. The current study utilises structural equation modelling in order to measure the indirect relationship between positive affect and life engagement, mindful attention, symptoms of depression and anxiety, and resilience in 1,027 Australian tertiary students. Positive affect had both direct and indirect relationships with resilience and symptoms of depression, and an indirect relationship with symptoms of anxiety. The indirect relationships between positive affect and depression and resilience partially depended on mindfulness and purpose in life. Additionally, the pathway from positive affect to symptoms of anxiety completely depended on the relationship between positive affect and mindfulness and purpose in life. The results indicate that positive affect may be useful for improving resilience and reducing symptoms of depression in tertiary students but may only alleviate symptoms of anxiety through its relationship with coping resources. <b>What is already known about this topic:</b>Australian tertiary education students are at-risk for the development of mental disorders. Preventive mental health programs are needed to help combat distress in students.Fredrickson’s Broaden and Build Theory states that positive affect can improve mental health by improving an individual’s engagement in stress reducing activities.Existing research investigating Fredrickson’s theory has shown mixed results. Australian tertiary education students are at-risk for the development of mental disorders. Preventive mental health programs are needed to help combat distress in students. Fredrickson’s Broaden and Build Theory states that positive affect can improve mental health by improving an individual’s engagement in stress reducing activities. Existing research investigating Fredrickson’s theory has shown mixed results. <b>What this topic adds:</b>This study found that positive affect is directly related to resilience and symptoms of depression, and indirectly related to symptoms of anxiety through coping resources in tertiary students.The findings help to explain the mixed results of previous studies investigating the relationship between positive affect and mental health outcomes.The results support that Fredrickson’s Broaden and Build Theory is a useful framework for informing the development of preventive mental health programs for tertiary education students. This study found that positive affect is directly related to resilience and symptoms of depression, and indirectly related to symptoms of anxiety through coping resources in tertiary students. The findings help to explain the mixed results of previous studies investigating the relationship between positive affect and mental health outcomes. The results support that Fredrickson’s Broaden and Build Theory is a useful framework for informing the development of preventive mental health programs for tertiary education students.