The Relationship between Meaning in Life and Mental Health in Chinese Undergraduates: The Mediating Roles of Self-Esteem and Interpersonal Trust

Abstract

To explore the association and the underlying process between meaning in life and psychological health, a stratified random sampling was conducted on undergraduate students from five universities in Fujian Province from March to April 2022, with the Meaning in Life Questionnaire, the Self-Esteem Scale, the Interpersonal Trust Scale, and the Kessler10 Scale. The results indicated that 34.5% of Chinese undergraduates were in poor or worse mental health. There were significant positive correlations among meaning in life, self-esteem, and interpersonal trust; meaning in life, self-esteem, and interpersonal trust were all significantly and positively correlated with mental health. Self-esteem and interpersonal trust played a chain mediating role between meaning in life and mental health. Schools and families should conduct appropriate activities to help them enhance meaning in life so as to improve the level of mental health.

Keywords

• mental health
• meaning in life
• self-esteem
• interpersonal trust