Sense of Coherence and Mental Health in College Students After Returning to School During COVID-19: The Moderating Role of Media Exposure

The COVID-19 pandemic not only threatens people’s physical health, but also affects their mental health in the long term. Although people had returned to work and school, they are closely monitoring the development of the epidemic and taking preventive measures. This study attempted to examine the relationship between media exposure, sense of coherence (SOC) and mental health, and the moderating effect of media exposure in college students after returning to school. In the present study, we conducted a cross sectional survey on 424 college students returning to school around May 2020. Self-report questionnaires were used to assess media exposure scale, SOC, depression, anxiety and stress. Correlation and moderation analysis was conducted. The results showed that (1) negative epidemic information exposure, rather than positive epidemic information exposure, was significantly associated with depression, anxiety, and stress. (2) SOC was also associated with depression, anxiety, and stress. (3) The effect of SOC on depression was modified by negative epidemic information exposure. With the increase of negative epidemic information exposure, the predictive effect of SOC on depression is increasing gradually. These findings demonstrated that negative epidemic information exposure was associated with an increased psychological distress in the sample. A high SOC played a certain protective role in the adaptation of college students in the post-epidemic period. It is important to find more ways to increase the colleges’ SOC level and avoid negative information exposure.