Stress and Depressive Symptoms in College Students: The Sequential Mediating Roles of Emotion Dysregulation and Anxiety (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Depressive symptoms (DPS) are a prevalent mental health concern among college students. Stress (STR) has been widely identified as an important correlate of depressive symptoms, yet the psychological mechanisms underlying this association remain insufficiently understood. This study examined the associations among stress, emotion dysregulation (ED), anxiety (AXE), and depressive symptoms in college students, with particular attention to the independent and sequential indirect pathways linking stress to depressive symptoms. OBJECTIVE Depressive symptoms (DPS) are a prevalent mental health concern among college students. Stress (STR) has been widely identified as an important correlate of depressive symptoms, yet the psychological mechanisms underlying this association remain insufficiently understood. This study examined the associations among stress, emotion dysregulation (ED), anxiety (AXE), and depressive symptoms in college students, with particular attention to the independent and sequential indirect pathways linking stress to depressive symptoms. METHODS A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 429 college students in Guangdong Province, China. Data were collected using self-report questionnaires assessing stress, emotion dysregulation, anxiety, and depressive symptoms. Descriptive statistics were performed using SPSS 29.0, and partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was conducted in SmartPLS 4.1 to evaluate the measurement model, test the hypothesized associations among variables, and examine the indirect pathways in the proposed model. RESULTS The measurement model demonstrated satisfactory reliability and validity. Stress was positively associated with emotion dysregulation (β = 0.457, t = 10.741, p < 0.001) and depressive symptoms (β = 0.337, t = 6.952, p < 0.001), while emotion dysregulation was positively associated with anxiety (β = 0.204, t = 4.474, p < 0.001), and anxiety was positively associated with depressive symptoms (β = 0.225, t = 4.422, p < 0.001). Mediation analysis showed that emotion dysregulation (β = 0.131, t = 5.407, p < 0.001) and anxiety (β = 0.118, t = 4.046, p < 0.001) each exhibited significant partial mediation patterns in the association between stress and depressive symptoms. In addition, the sequential indirect pathway through emotion dysregulation and anxiety was significant (β = 0.021, t = 3.238, p< 0.01). The model explained 48.6% of the variance in depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS Stress showed significant positive associations with depressive symptoms among college students. Emotion dysregulation and anxiety were also involved in significant independent and sequential indirect associations linking stress and depressive symptoms. These findings provide additional evidence for the close interrelationships among stress, emotion dysregulation, anxiety, and depressive symptoms in college student populations. CLINICALTRIAL Not applicable