Dispositional gratitude affects college student stress and depression from covid-19 pandemic: Mediation through coping

Although generally less at risk from adverse health effects of the COVID-19 virus compared to older adults, younger adults have been found to struggle with stress and mental health symptoms associated with the pandemic. Research has begun to shed light on resiliency factors that may point the way to effective prevention and intervention methods for responding to the ongoing mental health impact of the pandemic. Dispositional gratitude has been found to be associated with more adaptive and prosocial responses to the pandemic. There is also evidence that gratitude appraisals of the pandemic mediate the relationship between self-compassion and well-being. However, research has not investigated the relationship between dispositional gratitude and adverse mental health effects of the pandemic, along with mediators such as gratitude-based coping. This study assessed dispositional gratitude, pandemic stress exposure, use of general adaptive coping and gratitude-based coping (use of gratitude appraisals) during the pandemic, and levels of perceived stress and depressive symptoms in college students. Findings support a direct relationship between dispositional gratitude and lower perceived stress and depressive symptoms, as well as mediation through the use of adaptive coping and gratitude-based coping methods. Implications for COVID-19 pandemic mental health interventions are discussed.