Does social support matter? The mediating links with coping strategy and anxiety among Chinese college students in a cross-sectional study of COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND: The provision of public adaptive coping strategies to reduce psychological tension during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is critical. We sought to provide evidence-based guidance for psychological intervention, exploring the potential mediating roles of three sources of social support (i.e., subjective support, family support and counselor support) between coping strategies (i.e., cognitive coping, emotional coping and behavioral coping), and anxiety among college students at the height of the pandemic in China. METHODS: Using the Coping Strategy Questionnaire, Social Support Questionnaire, and Self-Rating Anxiety Scale, this large-scale online study analyzed the levels of social support, coping, and anxiety among 2640 college students in China from February 21st to 24th, 2020, when the students had been isolated at home for 1 month since the lockdown of Wuhan city. RESULTS: Students reported high levels of cognitive coping, behavioral coping, and social support. They also experienced low levels of anxiety and emotional coping. Anxiety was significantly and negatively related to coping and social support. The mediating roles of three sources of social support were found between cognitive coping, behavioral coping, and anxiety, respectively. However, the effect of emotional coping on anxiety was not found to be mediated by social support. CONCLUSIONS: Adopting positive coping strategies may enhance social support that in turn relieves anxiety. The effect of social support, especially family and counselor support, should arouse greater awareness in coping with the pandemic cognitively and behaviorally. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-021-11332-4.