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OBJECTIVE: To identify social determinants of mental health embedded within college students' living and learning conditions. PARTICIPANTS: Participants included 215 mostly undergraduate (95%) business students at a diverse, urban west coast public university (48% women; mean age 24). METHODS: Participants completed an online self-report survey measuring affective state, global mental health, anxious and depressive symptoms, as well as social determinants of mental health. Data were analyzed using multiple regression controlling for self-esteem, gender, and race/ethnicity. RESULTS: Results suggest that higher family income is positively related to mental health, whereas more adverse events (e.g., assault, robbery, serious illness or injury), food insecurity, and commute time are negatively related to mental health. Moderation results indicate a moderate buffering effect of belonging on global mental health among students who experience zero adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: Social determinants can shed light on student's precarious living and learning conditions and resultant effects on students' mental health.
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Despite extensive research on COVID-19's impact on healthcare workers, few studies have targeted mental health workers (MHWs) and none have investigated previous traumatic events. We investigated psychological distress in MHWs after the first lockdown in Italy to understand which COVID-19, sociodemographic, and professional variables represented greater effects, and the role of previous trauma. The survey included sociodemographic and professional questions, COVID-19 variables, and the questionnaires Life Events Checklist for DSM-5 (LEC-5), Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R), and Depression Anxiety Stress Scales 21 (DASS-21). On the 271 MHWs who completed the survey (73.1% female; mean age 45.37), we obtained significant effects for contagion fear, experience of patients' death, increased workload, and worse team relationship during the first wave. Nurses were more affected and showed more post-traumatic stress symptoms, assessed by IES-R, and more depressive, anxiety, and stress symptoms, assessed by DASS-21. The strongest risk factors for distress were greater age, professional role, increased workload, worse team relationship, and separation from family members. Previous experience of severe human suffering and unwanted sexual experiences negatively impacted IES-R and DASS-21 scores. Being a psychiatrist or psychologist/psychotherapist and good team relationships were protective factors. Recent but also previous severe stressful events might represent relevant risk factors for distress, reducing resilience skills. Identifying vulnerable factors and professional categories may help in the development of dedicated measures to prevent emotional burden and support psychological health. Highlights: Psychological distress in mental health workers in the COVID-19 pandemic is more frequent in nurses, who experience more depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress symptoms. Previous and recent stressful events are risk factors for distress and should guide intervention strategies.
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BACKGROUND: The environmental etiology of non-syndromic orofacial clefts (NSOFCs) is still under research. The aim of this case-control study is to assess COVID-19 associated factors that may be related to the risk of NSOFC in five Arab countries. These factors include COVID-19 infection, COVID-19 symptoms, family member or friends infected with COVID-19, stress, smoking, socioeconomic status and fear of COVID-19. METHODS: The study took place in governmental hospitals in five Arab countries from November 2020 to November 2021. Controls are matched in the month of delivery and site of recruitment. A clinical examination was carried out using LASHAL classification. Maternal exposure to medication, illnesses, supplementation, COVID-19 infection during their pregestation and 1st trimester periods were evaluated using a validated questionnaire. Maternal exposure to stress was assessed using the Life Events scale, fear of covid-19 scale, family member or friend affected with covid-19 infection, pregnancy planning and threatened abortion. RESULTS: The study recruited 1135 infants (386 NSOFC and 749 controls). Living in urban areas, maternal exposure to medications 3-months pregestation, maternal exposure to any of the prenatal life events and maternal fear of COVID-19 significantly increased the risk of having a child with NSOFC. On the other hand, mothers exposed to supplementation 3-months pregestation, mothers suspected of having COVID-19 infection, family members or friends testing positive with COVID-19 significantly decreased the risk of having a child with NSOFC. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that NSOFC may be associated with maternal exposure to lifetime stress and COVID-19 fear in particular, with no direct effect of the COVID-19 infection itself. This highlights the importance of providing psychological support for expecting mothers during stressful events that affect populations such as the COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to the usual antenatal care.
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COVID-19 , Cleft Lip , Cleft Palate , Child , Female , Humans , Infant , Pregnancy , Case-Control Studies , Cleft Lip/epidemiology , Cleft Palate/epidemiology , COVID-19/epidemiology , Mothers , Pandemics , Risk Factors , Middle East/epidemiology , Egypt/epidemiologyABSTRACT
Psychological first aid (PFA) is an intervention strategy to support people in severe distress following crisis events. These traumatic events might include natural disasters, accidents, violent crimes or trauma experienced in nursing work, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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This thematic issue examines the insurance function as a mechanism to underlie wealth effects on various outcomes. The articles in this issue shed an innovative light on the insurance function of wealth concerning a range of topics rele-vant to social stratification and social policy researchers. This editorial provides an overview of the contributions of this thematic issue and highlights some gaps and remaining open questions. Altogether, the contributions suggest that wealth can provide insurance against adverse life events in various contexts. However, this insurance effect depends on welfare state characteristics, wealth portfolios, and the way families handle their wealth. © 2023 by the author(s).
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Much has been achieved with regard to how critical life events influence trajectories in life. Theories on the development of personality and well-being emphasize that people differ in the rate, timing, and direction life events influence certain personality traits and key indicators of well-being such as life satisfaction. However, there has been an urgent call for longitudinal studies exploring processes that underlie individual differences of the appraisal and reaction to critical life events. This dissertation seeks to meet this plea by investigating the influence of specific and non-specific critical life events on personality development and life satisfaction, taking into account one's subjective perception of these events. Since core beliefs can alter mental representations of life events, the present dissertation explores a possible moderating role of mindset and self-efficacy. Moreover, this dissertation places particular focus on the assessment of life events and implications for the critical age periods of adolescence and emerging adulthood. While the first longitudinal study (N = 1,243) focusses on the influence of two specific life events, school graduation and moving away from the childhood home, on trait changes in the Big Five, the second study (N = 1,477) explores personality development below the domain level in trait intellect, a facet of openness, with regard to predominantly non-specific life events. The third study (N = 1,920) expands the scope of the current thesis by considering the impact of a collective experienced life event, the COVID-19 pandemic, on the development of life satisfaction over four measurement occasions. Across the three studies, I investigate individual differences by considering the moderating role of the core beliefs of mindset or self-efficacy. Although none of the studies suggest that these critical life events have an influence in and of themselves, results reveal significant personality changes (Study 1) and changes in life satisfaction (Study 3) when taking into account subjective perceptions of the critical life events. Further, the results of studies 1 and 2 indicate personality development in traits that are associated with mature functioning. While a moderating role of mindset was found in study 1 regarding the influence of the perception of the life event graduation on levels in extraversion and neuroticism, results indicated no moderating effects of self-efficacy in the studies 2 and 3. However, the present results reveal selection and socialization effects of selfefficacy with respect to the development of intellect (Study 2), and significant effects of self-efficacy on life satisfaction before and during the COVID-19 pandemic (Study 3). All in all, the present findings contribute to a deeper understanding on the processing of life events, but further longitudinal studies are needed to observe individual life trajectories in young adulthood with respect to different event characteristics and implicit beliefs. In the conclusion, limitations of this dissertation, future research ideas, as well as practical implications for adolescents and emerging adults are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
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OBJECTIVES: The co-occurrence of different classes of population-level stressors, such as social unrest and public health crises, is common in contemporary societies. Yet, few studies explored their combined mental health impact. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of repeated exposure to social unrest-related traumatic events (TEs), coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic-related events (PEs), and stressful life events (SLEs) on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depressive symptoms, and the potential mediating role of event-based rumination (rumination of TEs-related anger, injustice, guilt, and insecurity) between TEs and PTSD symptoms. METHODS: Community members in Hong Kong who had utilized a screening tool for PTSD and depressive symptoms were invited to complete a survey on exposure to stressful events and event-based rumination. RESULTS: A total of 10,110 individuals completed the survey. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that rumination, TEs, and SLEs were among the significant predictors for PTSD symptoms (all P < 0.001), accounting for 32% of the variance. For depression, rumination, SLEs, and PEs were among the significant predictors (all P < 0.001), explaining 24.9% of the variance. Two-way analysis of variance of different recent and prior TEs showed significant dose-effect relationships. The effect of recent TEs on PTSD symptoms was potentiated by prior TEs (P = 0.005). COVID-19 PEs and prior TEs additively contributed to PTSD symptoms, with no significant interaction (P = 0.94). Meanwhile, recent TEs were also potentiated by SLEs (P = 0.002). The effects of TEs on PTSD symptoms were mediated by rumination (ß = 0.38, standard error = 0.01, 95% confidence interval: 0.36 to 0.41), with 40.4% of the total effect explained. All 4 rumination subtypes were significant mediators. CONCLUSIONS: Prior and ongoing TEs, PEs, and SLEs cumulatively exacerbated PTSD and depressive symptoms. The role of event-based rumination and their interventions should be prioritized for future research.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Depression , Rumination, Cognitive/classification , Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic , Stress, Psychological , Adult , COVID-19/epidemiology , COVID-19/prevention & control , COVID-19/psychology , Communicable Disease Control/methods , Depression/diagnosis , Depression/epidemiology , Depression/etiology , Female , Hong Kong/epidemiology , Humans , Life Change Events , Male , Mass Screening/methods , Mental Health , Psychological Techniques , Public Health , Risk Assessment , SARS-CoV-2 , Sociological Factors , Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/diagnosis , Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/epidemiology , Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/etiology , Stress, Psychological/epidemiology , Stress, Psychological/etiology , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
Introduction: The study aimed to investigate the impact and mechanism of negative life events on college students' suicidal ideation during the COVID-19 pandemic and the buffering effect of hope under the background of normalization of pandemic. Methods: A total of 5211 participants took part in this study. Self-reported negative life events, rumination, hope and suicide ideation were measured using a range of questions and scales. Our research demonstrated that the incidence of suicidal ideation among college freshmen in the past week was higher during the COVID-19 pandemic than that before the pandemic. In this study, conditional process model 15 was used to verify the hypothetical model of rumination as a potential mediator and hope as a moderator. Results: The hypothesized moderated mediation model was verified significant (ß = -0.047, 95% CI = [-0.061, -0.035]), and hope was found to moderate the direct effect of negative life events on suicidal ideation (ß = -0.039, t = -2.937, 95% CI = [-0.065, -0.013]) as well as the indirect effect of through the mediator rumination (ß = -0.134, t = -10.850, 95% CI = [-0.158, -0.110]). Discussion: We found that rumination partially mediated the effect of negative life events on suicidal ideation, and hope buffered the direct and indirect effect of negative life events on suicidal ideation. The implications of the findings for clinical interventions are discussed, including the importance of hope arousal as a protective factor and rumination as a cognitive mechanism for emotion regulation under the background of normalization of pandemic.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Suicidal Ideation , Humans , Pandemics , COVID-19/epidemiology , COVID-19/prevention & control , Students/psychology , UniversitiesABSTRACT
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder linked to several genetic and environmental factors including antenatal stress. Hence, we aimed to examine whether a mother's stress during pregnancy is associated with the severity of autism spectrum disorder in children. The study was conducted with 459 mothers of children with autism (aged 2-14 years) who were attending rehabilitation and educational centers in the two major cities of Makkah and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. Environmental factors, consanguinity, and ASD family history were assessed using a validated questionnaire. The Prenatal Life Events Scale questionnaire was used to assess whether the mothers were exposed to stress during pregnancy. Two models of ordinal regression analysis were conducted including gender, child age maternal age, parental age, maternal education, parental education, income nicotine exposure, mother taking medication during pregnancy, family history of ASD, gestation, consanguinity, exposure of prenatal life events (in model 1), and severity of prenatal life events (in model 2). Family history of ASD showed a statistically significant association with the severity of ASD in both regression models (p = .015, odds ratio [OR]: 4.261 in Model 1, and p = .014, OR: 4.901 in model 2). In model 2, the moderate severity prenatal life events showed higher statistically significant adjusted odds ratio for ASD severity compared to no stress (p = .031; OR: 3.82). Within the limitations of this study, prenatal stressors showed some potential contribution to ASD severity. Family history of ASD was the only factor that showed a persistent association with ASD severity. A study that assesses the effect of COVID-19 stress on ASD prevalence and severity is recommended.
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Autism Spectrum Disorder , COVID-19 , Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects , Child , Humans , Female , Pregnancy , Cross-Sectional Studies , Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects/epidemiology , MothersABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has a great impact on society as a whole. Yet the pandemic and associated mandatory lockdown in several countries may have increased the vulnerability of certain populations. The present study aimed to document the frequency of clinical level of psychological distress and COVID-19 related post-traumatic stress symptoms in youth during the first wave of the pandemic. The study more specifically explored the role of prior trauma and adverse life events as a vulnerability factor for negative outcomes. A sample of 4914 adolescents and young adults from the province of Quebec, Canada was recruited online through social networks during the first wave of COVID-19. Results revealed that 26.6% of youth displayed serious psychological distress and 20.3% probable PTSD symptoms. The number of past traumas and adversity experienced showed a dose-response relation with the prevalence of psychological distress and PTSD. After controlling for socio-demographic characteristics and COVID-19 related variables (exposure, fear, suspicion of having the infection), participants with a history of five traumas and more presented a two-fold risk of serious psychological distress and probable PTSD. Emotion dysregulation was also associated with an increased risk of symptoms while resilience was linked to a reduced risk of distress.
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Actions taken by governments to counteract the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic led to profound restrictions in daily lives, especially for adolescents and young adults, with closed schools and universities, travel restrictions, and reduction in social contacts. The purpose of the current study is to investigate the development of life satisfaction with assessments before and during the pandemic, including separate measurement occasions during a strict lockdown and when the implemented restrictions were relaxed again. Data are based on the German Personality Panel (GePP) with 1,920 young adults, assessed on four measurement occasions over a period of three years. Using latent change score modeling, we investigate the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic with respect to its perception as a critical life event over time. Further, we examine the influence of self-efficacy on change in life-satisfaction, as the belief in one's innate abilities has been shown to promote health related behavior and buffers against effects of negatively perceived critical life events. While average life satisfaction remained stable across time, we found a main effect of perceived positive valence and self-efficacy on latent change in life satisfaction at the within person level. Expressions of self-efficacy did not moderate the influence of the perception of the pandemic on self-reported life satisfaction. This study provides an important contribution to the recent COVID-19 literature as well as to the debate on stability and change of self-reported life satisfaction.
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The current study examines possible mediating and moderating mechanisms in the relationship between negative life events associated with COVID-19 and psychological distress. A total of 450 adults (mean age = 22.11 years, SD = 3. 46 years) participated in this study. The participants completed measures of negative life events, psychological distress, and irrational/rational beliefs. The present findings indicated that adverse life events associated with COVID-19 predict psychological distress in adults. The findings also indicated that indirect predictive effect of adverse life events associated with COVID-19 on psychological distress via irrational beliefs varies depending on specific value of rational beliefs. The current study contributes to existing cognitive vulnerability model by documenting when and how adverse life events associated with COVID-19 influence psychological distress.
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Vaccine hesitancy and uptake have been important issues in controlling the current COVID-19 pandemic in many regions around the globe, but the increase in vaccination rates has been slow or even halted in some countries. Therefore, people who have hesitated in getting the vaccine need to be addressed. One driver influencing vaccination uptake is closing the knowledge gap among the public by equipping them with a deeper understanding of how a vaccine works inside our cells to activate the immune system and develop immunity. Viral immunology is highly conceptual and requires an appreciation of molecular biology in the cell. To give individuals an intuitive awareness of the operation of a mRNA-type virus vaccine for COVID-19, we designed and developed a Virtual Reality (VR) based serious game called 'Cell Traveler'. Through this innovative VR serious game, the player can control and interact with a sequence of critical real-life events inside a cell triggered by the injected mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. In this paper, we describe the prototype of the 'Cell Traveler'. We utilize the concepts of serious game to create an experience to encourage students and the public to develop deeper mRNA vaccine knowledge through a memorable and fun experience. © 2022 IEEE.
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The suicide crisis syndrome (SCS) and suicidal ideation (SI) are differentially linked to short-term suicide risk. Since both are theoretically and empirically linked to stressful life events, which have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, a clear understanding of these processes may be essential for suicide prevention. Thus, the present study examined (a) associations between SCS, SI, and total number of stressful life events and (b) relations between specific types of stressful life events, SCS, and SI. Participants (N = 5,528) across 10 participating countries completed an anonymous online battery of self-report measures assessing stressful life events, SCS symptoms, and SI during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a negative binomial regression, the association between SCS and the total number of stressful life events was approximately two to three times stronger than that of the relation between SI and the number of stressful life events. Relationship-related and role/identity-related stressors were most consistently related to SCS and SI cross-nationally. Remaining vigilant of the link between stressful life events, SI, and SCS is imperative in preventing suicide. During the COVID-19 pandemic, SCS has a stronger relationship to stressful life events than SI in a way that appears relatively invariant to cross-cultural differences. SCS and SI may identify two divergent pathways to suicidal behavior. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
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Introduction: In early 2020, North American jurisdictions required households (e.g., romantic couples) to isolate together to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19. This study provides a first look at the interplay of depressive symptoms and conflict behaviors among isolating couples, including tests of predictions of the stress generation hypothesis. Methods: Mixed-gender couples residing in Canada (N = 711) completed online measures across two waves. We used the actor-partner interdependence mediation model, with Wave 1 depressive symptoms as the predictor, Wave 1 conflict enactment as the mediator, and Wave 2 depressive symptoms as the outcome. Results: Depressive symptoms showed stability across Wave 1 and 2. Wave 1 depressive symptoms showed associations with Wave 1 conflict enactment. For men (but not women), Wave 1 conflict enactment was associated with their own and their partner's Wave 2 depressive symptoms. For both partners, Wave 1 conflict enacted by men mediated the association between Wave 1 depressive symptoms and Wave 2 depressive symptoms. Discussion: Our study confirms and extends the stress generation hypothesis to the pandemic context, showing that depressive symptoms may partially contribute to conflict for isolating couples and that conflict behaviors enacted by men toward their partner can exacerbate depressive symptoms in both partners.
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Introduction: Many studies point to cognitive beliefs, attitudes and other psychologicalt traits involved in particularities of reactions to pandemic situation, but the differences in life events are often overlooked. Objective(s): Astudy of subjective evaluation of life events during the pandemics. Method(s): The modified Lifeline technique was used to elicit life events. In semistructured interview, using a timeline, subjects were asked to indicate and describe events that had an impact on their attitudes, behaviors and feelings since the start of pandemic. Then they evaluated with direct assessment scales each event as to what extent it was anxious, difficult to cope, changed the beliefs concerning COVID-19, fostered the changes of behavior and habits, and led to reappraisal of own values. The events were coded using dichotomous categories: COVID-related vs directly unrelated, universal vs individual, personally involved vs noninvolved, and also were further qualitatively evaluated. 25 young Azerbaijani residents took part in the study. Result(s): From 191 events named, 72%were COVID-related, 62% - universal, 62% - with personal involvement. 46% of events were unique (mentioned once). Universal events were more likely to be assessed as anxiogenic, while personal ones as leading to rethink own values and priorities (U, p<.01 and p<.05). Surprisingly, life events in total were assessed as less challenging the beliefs about pandemics while more frequently leading to rethink own values (T, p<.05). Individual events involvedmore conflictmeanings and implications. Conclusion(s): Lifeline technique may provide important insights on the impact of life events in complex social transitions and may be used in counseling.
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The early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated stay-at-home orders resulted in a stark reduction in daily social interactions for children and adolescents. Given that peer relationships are especially important during this developmental stage, it is crucial to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on social behavior and risk for psychopathology in children and adolescents. In a longitudinal sample (N=224) of children (7-10y) and adolescents (13-15y) assessed at three strategic time points (before the pandemic, during the initial stay-at-home order period, and six months later after the initial stay-at-home order period was lifted), we examine whether certain social factors protect against increases in stress-related psychopathology during the pandemic, controlling for pre-pandemic symptoms. Youth who reported less in-person and digital socialization, greater social isolation, and less social support had worsened psychopathology during the pandemic. Greater social isolation and decreased digital socialization during the pandemic were associated with greater risk for psychopathology after experiencing pandemic-related stressors. In addition, children, but not adolescents, who maintained some in-person socialization were less likely to develop internalizing symptoms following exposure to pandemic-related stressors. We identify social factors that promote well-being and resilience in youth during this societal event.
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At present, marketers focus on the phenomenon of changing consumer behavior that influences consumer decision-making. This study aims to analyze the influence of experienced life events (affected by COVID-19), perceived risk, and anxiety on the continuance intention to use online banking in Thailand. The data were attained from 500 customers who had visited commercial banks in Thailand. The data were analyzed through Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The findings of the study suggested that both perceived risk and anxiety influenced the continued use of online banking services while experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic. More specifically, anxiety had a direct negative influence on the continuance intention to use online banking services;and the perceived risk had an indirect influence on the Continuance Intention to use online banking services caused by anxiety. From the research results, it is recommended that focus should be on policies and activities that help reduce consumers’ perceived risk and anxiety to motivate more consumers to turn to online banking and eventually into a cashless society with a willingness and sense of safety. © Paisal Rittigul, Teerasak Jindabot, 2022.
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Can visual interaction with artwork prompt healing? Can the brain recover from traumatic experiences and help heal the whole body? Since the 1940s, art therapists have claimed that the production of art can help heal past traumas. Similarly, occupational therapists have employed techniques from arts and crafts since the end of World War II to retrain soldiers helping them recover from the trauma of war. The global Covid-19 pandemic has caused health-related and psychological problems-isolation, increased anxiety, and fear-for people of all ages, with the rates of such traumas affecting children tripling over the past two years. According to the Nebraska-based quilting company, Accuquilt, during the first six months of pandemic isolation in 2020, sales more than doubled as new customers showed a desire to participate in arts and crafts from home. This essay explores various approaches to the arts to determine how art may restore dignity and health following traumatic experiences.
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The prevalence of reported mental health problems among university students has increased at alarming rates in recent years. While various negative life events (from personal events such as relationship breakdowns to more global events such as COVID-19 [SARS-CoV-2] pandemic) have been found to be important predictors of poor mental health in this population, some individuals have been found robustly to fare better than others in confronting such events. Identifying factors that predict these individuals' mental health, along with the specific coping strategies they utilize may have significant practical implications when confronted by adverse events such as COVID-19. This study investigated relationships between the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on 828 (453 females, 374 males, and one "Other") Chinese university students' mental health, and their internal strengths, personality characteristics, and demographic profiles. We also investigated whether students' use of specific coping strategies mediated these relationships. Stepwise multiple regression analyses (MRAs) and a path analysis revealed that students who resided in their home country, had higher levels of internal strengths, a lower level of neuroticism and a higher level of agreeableness and reported fewer negative mental health changes than did other respondents during COVID-19 in the second half of 2020. Self-regulation and withdrawal coping strategies were both important mediators of these relationships. These findings have important implications for universities in identifying and assisting students in the face of adverse events such as COVID-19.