Associations of Psychological Capital, Coping Style and Emotional Intelligence with Self-Rated Health Status of College Students in China During COVID-19 Pandemic

Xiangzhi Jing; Hongling Meng; Yuping Li; Lingeng Lu; Yongcheng Yao

doi:10.2147/PRBM.S383743

Associations of Psychological Capital, Coping Style and Emotional Intelligence with Self-Rated Health Status of College Students in China During COVID-19 Pandemic

Psychol Res Behav Manag. 2022 Sep 14:15:2587-2597. doi: 10.2147/PRBM.S383743. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Xiangzhi Jing¹, Hongling Meng², Yuping Li², Lingeng Lu³, Yongcheng Yao²

Affiliations

¹ School of Medicine, Xinyang Vocational and Technical College, Xinyang, People's Republic of China.
² School of Mathematics and Statistics, Zhengzhou Normal University, Zhengzhou, People's Republic of China.
³ Department of Chronic Disease Epidemiology, Yale School of Public Health, School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.

Abstract

Background: COVID-19 lockdown can lead to mental health problem, and the problem is heterogeneous across individuals. In this study, we aimed to explore the association between the self-reported health status, emotional coping style, emotional intelligence and positive psychological state of college students during the COVID-19 pandemic in China.

Methods: The questionnaires of Self-rated Health Measurement Scale (SRHMS), Emotional Intelligence Scale (EIS), Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PCQ), Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire (SCSQ) were used for online survey. The study included 367 undergraduates.

Results: Undergraduate sex, sibling and birth of place were associated with either psychological capital scores or emotional intelligence. Online time per day had significantly negative associations with self-rated health and psychological capital scores. Multivariate analysis showed that the interaction between emotional intelligence, psychological capital and coping styles was statistically significant (β = -0.112, p = 0.045) in health status with psychological capital ranking the top (β = 0.428). Mediation analysis showed that psychological capital and coping style modified the effect of emotional intelligence on health status.

Conclusion: Psychological capital and coping style modified the effect of emotional intelligence on health status in college students during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this pandemic emergency, a comprehensive intervention, such as positive coping styles with optimistic emotional perception and understanding as well as social support, is an important measure against the pandemic-induced mental health problem in college students in China.

Keywords: college students; coping style; emotional intelligence; health status; psychological capital.

Grants and funding

This study was supported by Henan Province Educational Science “13th Five-year Plan” Fund (2020YB0256), and by Research project of Henan Provincial Education Department (22B330005); China Scholarship Council Fund (201908410022); Special fund for scientific Research start-up of Zhengzhou Normal University(20191).