Serial Multiple Mediation of the Relationship between Positive Coping Style and Post-Traumatic Growth among Chinese College Students in the Aftermath of COVID-19

Given the ongoing character of COVID-19, higher-education students encountered multifaceted pressures brought about by the pandemic and had to overcome many difficulties during this period. Accordingly, it is imperative to identify the factors that may have protective effects on the social functioning and mental status of college students in the aftermath of COVID-19. This crosssectional study sought to ascertain the internal mechanism of positive coping (PC) styles affecting post-traumatic growth (PTG) and considered the mediating roles of cognitive reappraisal (CR), psychological resilience (PR), and deliberate rumination (DR), which are essential for understanding how and to what extent these factors shaped PTG in the context of the present pandemic. 463 Chinese college students recruited via a convenience sampling method completed a set of online self-report measures of PC, PTG, CR, PR and DR. The findings revealed that the abovementioned five variables were positively correlated with each other, and the independent variable directly predicted the dependent variable. More importantly, two out of three mediators in parallel mediated the relationship between PC and PTG, illustrating that more PC adoption was associated with increased PTG through high levels of PR and DR, respectively. The two significant serial mediating effects also indicated that PC could contribute to CR, which further facilitates either PR or DR and subsequently promotes the development of PTG. Colleges should adopt routine protective behaviors in accordance with such evidence to strengthen students' mental health education and establish scientific methods to boost their psychological well-being. Overall, our results may shed new light on the process of positive adaption and provide theoretical support for targeted crisis intervention during the late phase of the pandemic.