Abstract:

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed a significant threat to the mental well-being of Chinese college students. This study aims to explore how the mening in life changes and the longitudinal association between meaning in life and mental health in the context of COVID-19 among college students. In study 1, the Meaning of Life Questionnaire (MLQ) was employed to track two separate samples of college students, A(N=486) and B(N=466), on three occasions each. This was done to explore the changes of meaning in life during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. In study 2, utilizing MLQ and Hospital Anxiety and Dpression Scale(HADS), sample A was surveyed twice to further explore the protective effect of meaning in life on mental health. The results showed that: 1) The outbreak of COVID-19 had a diminishing effect on the search for and presence of meaning in life among college students; 2) The relationship between the presence of meaning in life and anxiety and depression is mutual influence during COVID-19, wherein depression can diminish the presence of meaning in life, and conversely, the presence of meaning in life acts protectively against anxiety and depression. The results of this study provide longitudinal evidence supporting the correlation between meaning in life and mental health. Additionally, these results establish a theoretical foundation for addressing mental health concerns following sudden traumatic events.

Key words: meaning in life, anxiety and depression, latent profile analysis, cross lagged analysis