Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Jun 13:16:1571275.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1571275. eCollection 2025.

Emotion regulation strategies and mental wellbeing among Chinese college students during COVID-19: the moderating roles of confinement and attentional bias

Mengqi Xiao  1   2 , Yiran Wang  2 , Yaling Zhuang  2 , Yier Luo  2 , Li Liu  2 , Yingxin Lin  2 , Dingguo Gao  1   3   4 , Jiahua Xu  5
Affiliations

Emotion regulation strategies and mental wellbeing among Chinese college students during COVID-19: the moderating roles of confinement and attentional bias

Mengqi Xiao et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

Background: During COVID-19, confinement measures were implemented to curb the epidemic spread. While effective in reducing infections, these measures likely deteriorated the psychological wellbeing of students due to school closures and isolation.

Methods: This study analyzed 13,109 valid questionnaires from individuals aged 18-24 years (mean 20.28 ± 1.518) to explore how emotion regulation strategies (cognitive reappraisal and expression suppression) impact mental wellbeing through attentional biases (positive and negative), with confinement as three moderators.

Results: Cognitive reappraisal was positively associated with mental wellbeing, whereas expression suppression showed a negative association. Positive attentional bias was associated with higher wellbeing, whereas negative bias was linked to lower levels of it. Negative attentional bias was linked to a stronger positive association between cognitive reappraisal and mental wellbeing, as well as a more pronounced negative association? with expression suppression. Confinement was associated with a stronger positive relation between cognitive reappraisal and mental wellbeing, while corresponding to a more negative relation with expression suppression.

Conclusion: Our findings highlight the complex interplay between emotion regulation strategies and mental wellbeing during confinement. Cognitive reappraisal and positive attentional bias are associated with protective effects, while expression suppression and negative bias are linked to detrimental effects. Confinement measures, despite their positive impact on physical health, significantly modulate these effects. Tailored interventions considering individual differences and contexts are needed to support mental wellbeing in similar crises.

Keywords: COVID-19; attentional bias; confinement situation; emotion regulation strategies; mental wellbeing.

PubMed Disclaimer

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
Bar graphs of Cognitive Reappraisal and Expressive Suppression in Confined and Unconfined Situation. (A, B) Bar graphs depict the mean values of cognitive reappraisal scores and expression suppression scores in confined and unconfined situations with enhanced emotion regulation strategies in confined situations (*** P < 0.001).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Bar graphs of attentional bias in confined and unconfined situation. (A, B) Bar graphs depict the mean values of positive attentional bias scores and negative attentional bias scores in confined and unconfined situations with enhanced both attentional bias in confined situations (*** p < 0.001).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Bar graphs of mental well-being in confined and unconfined situation (***P < 0.001).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Moderation model with three independent variables.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Three-Dimensional scatter plot of the moderating effect of negative attentional bias.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Three-dimensional scatter plot of the moderating effect of confinement.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Ackerman J. M., Hill S. E., Murray D. R. (2018). The behavioral immune system: current concerns and future directions. Soc. Personal. Psychol. Compass 12:e12371. 10.1111/spc3.12371 - DOI
    1. Adjepong M., Amoah-Agyei F., Du C., Wang W., Fenton J. I., Tucker R. M. (2022). Limited negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health measures of Ghanaian university students. J. Affect. Disord. Rep. 7:100306. 10.1016/j.jadr.2021.100306 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Admin CRPE. (2023). Student Mental Health and Well-Being: A Review of Evidence and Emerging Solutions - Center on Reinventing Public Education. Available online at: https://crpe.org/student-mental-health-and-well-being-a-review-of-eviden... (retrieved May 2, 2025).
    1. Aldao A. (2013). The future of emotion regulation research: capturing context. Perspect. Psychol. Sci. 8, 155–172. 10.1177/1745691612459518 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Amanzio M., Cipriani G. E., Canessa N., Borghesi F., Chirico A., Cipresso P. (2023). A unique neuropsychophysiological approach to objectify emotion (dys)regulation in healthy older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sci. Rep. 13:23093. 10.1038/s41598-023-50310-1 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources