RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: The COVID-19 pandemic has required important changes in the lifestyles and quality of life of higher education students, generating emotional distress. This study sought to evaluate a predictive model of emotional distress and positive mental health through measures of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and posttraumatic growth (PTG) in Chilean higher education students during the pandemic. METHOD: To this end, 502 students (67.8% female), aged 18-44 years, were surveyed at two time points during the pandemic, separated by 6 months. Potential predictors included emotional regulation strategies, perceived social support, sociodemographic characteristics, factors related to the pandemic, and students' experiences related to online classes. RESULTS: Findings indicated that PTSS levels were generally stable across the two time points, but PTG levels increased. In addition, emotional regulation strategies (suppression, cognitive reappraisal), perceived social support, and female gender predicted both PTSS and PTG 6 months later; students' number of hours of screen time for school also influenced PTG. CONCLUSIONS: Findings enhance understanding of the processes contributing to PTSS and PTG in higher education students. The need to improve quality of life and mental health in higher education students, including individual- and institutional-level strategies, is discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
RESUMO
Objetivo. Evaluar un modelo predictivo de sintomatología postraumática (SPT) y de crecimiento postraumático (CPT), que incluía variables psicológicas, relacionadas con la pandemia y con las clases virtuales, en estudiantes de educación superior durante la pandemia. Método. Participaron 552 estudiantes cuya mayoría corresponde a un 68.5% de mujeres. Se aplicaron instrumentos para medir distintas variables psicológicas. Resultados. Se estableció que un modelo predictivo que incluía la rumiación intrusiva y deliberada, la severidad subjetiva, la supresión emocional, la revaluación cognitiva, el apoyo social, un espacio adecuado para conectarse a clases en línea y el nivel de estudios predecía en forma significativa la SPT. La rumiación deliberada, el apoyo social, la reevaluación cognitiva y la edad predecían el CPT. Se discute la relevancia de estos resultados para el apoyo que se podría brindar a los estudiantes.
Objective. To evaluate a predictive model of posttraumatic symptomatology (PTS) and posttraumatic growth (PTC), which included psychological, pandemic-related, and online classroom-related variables, in higher education students during the pandemic. Method. A total of 552 students participated, 68.5% of whom were women. Instruments were applied to measure different psychological variables. Results. It was established that a model that included intrusive and deliberate rumination, subjective severity, emotional suppression, cognitive reappraisal, social support, adequate space to connect to online classes, and educational attainment significantly predicted PTS. Deliberate rumination, social support, cognitive reappraisal, and age predicted CPT. The relevance of these findings to the academic support that could be provided to students is discussed.
