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. 2023 Aug 4:11:1230142.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1230142. eCollection 2023.

Depression and academic engagement among college students: the role of sense of security and psychological impact of COVID-19

Yuxi Tang  1 , Weiguang He  1
Affiliations

Depression and academic engagement among college students: the role of sense of security and psychological impact of COVID-19

Yuxi Tang et al. Front Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: The negative consequences of depression in college students have garnered global attention, especially in relation to academic achievement during the COVID-19 pandemic, which need critical assessment.

Aim: This study investigated whether a sense of security mediated the relationship between depression and academic engagement among college students during the pandemic and whether the moderating psychological impact of COVID-19 has a moderating effect on this relationship.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we recruited 466 college students from 30 provincial-level administrative regions in China via the Internet and used established scales to measure depression, academic engagement, a sense of security, and the psychological impact of COVID-19. The mediating and moderating effects were tested using the bootstrap method.

Results: Depression was found to negatively influence academic engagement, with a sense of security partially mediating this relationship. Moreover, the psychological impact of COVID-19 was shown to have a moderating effect on this mediating process.

Conclusion: This study could aid in crafting pertinent strategies to mitigate the adverse effects of depression on learning amid unexpected public health crises and foster better mental health among college students.

Keywords: COVID-19; academic engagement; college students; depression; psychological impact of COVID-19; sense of security.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Research hypothesis model diagram.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Test results of the mediator model with moderation. ***p < 0.001.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Mediating moderating effect between depression and academic engagement.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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