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The benefits of personal strengths in mental health of stressed students: A longitudinal investigation

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Abstract

Objective

This study used a two-wave longitudinal research design to explore the role of individual strengths, including interpersonal strength, intellectual strength, and temperance strength, in affecting the mental health of stressed college students.

Participants

A total of 404 stressed Chinese college students were screened to participate in this 12-month longitudinal study.

Methods

At the beginning of the study (Time 1), students who had not experienced stressful events within the last 12 months were invited to assess their strengths, psychological well-being, and psychological symptoms. After 12 months (Time 2), 404 students who reported stressful experiences completed the scales again and were retained for the final analyses.

Results

Academics-related stressors were the most endorsed life events among college students, whose states of mental health showed downward trends from Time 1 to Time 2. Three strengths had weak to modest correlations to mental health at both Time 1 and Time 2. Although the additional variances of mental health explained by the three strengths were very modest, the mediational roles of the strengths were identified. The perceived stress completely mediated the relationship between the strengths and the psychological symptoms and partly mediated the relationship between the strengths and psychological well-being.

Conclusions

Individual strengths may function as a defense against perceived stress and are protective factors of mental health. These strengths maintain mental health by enhancing the psychological well-being and reducing the psychological symptoms of individuals.

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Funding

This study was funded by China Positive Psychology Research Fund (Jing Min Ji Zheng Zi Di 0020344 Hao 2015-01-047).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, Wuhan University, 299 Bayi Road, Wuchang District, Wuhan City, Hubei Province, People’s Republic of China

    Wenjie Duan

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  1. Wenjie Duan
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Correspondence to Wenjie Duan.

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Wenjie Duan has received research grants. Wenjie Duan declares that he has no conflict of interest.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Duan, W. The benefits of personal strengths in mental health of stressed students: A longitudinal investigation. Qual Life Res 25, 2879–2888 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-016-1320-8

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