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<p>College students’ mental health problems have become an important challenge facing higher education. As a low-threshold and highly accessible form of social support, the mechanisms of peer support in mental health maintenance remain unclear. This study adopted a three-year longitudinal tracking design, collecting data from 1,842 college students at six time points, and used structural equation modeling and latent growth curve modeling to test the long-term enhancement effects of peer support on mental health through the chain mediation mechanism of self-efficacy and social adaptation. Results showed that peer support had a significant positive predictive effect on mental health (total effect β = 0.33, SE = 0.04, 95% CI [0.25, 0.41], <i>p</i> &lt; .001), with indirect effects totaling 0.21 (SE = 0.03, 95% CI [0.15, 0.27], <i>p</i> &lt; .001), accounting for 63.6% of the total effect. Specifically, the simple mediation effect through self-efficacy was 0.10 (30.3% of total effect), through social adaptation was 0.06 (18.2% of total effect), and the chain mediation effect through “self-efficacy → social adaptation” was 0.05 (15.1% of total effect), with Bootstrap confidence intervals for all indirect effects excluding zero. Longitudinal analysis found that all four core variables showed significant linear growth, with social adaptation having the largest growth slope (0.12). Cross-lagged tests confirmed the causal priority and cumulative enhancement characteristics of peer support. The Random Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Model (RI-CLPM) analysis further confirmed that within-person effects accounted for 58.2% of the total within-person association, supporting genuine individual change processes. The study also found a significant compensatory growth pattern (<i>r</i> = − .18), with students having lower initial mental health levels showing faster growth rates. Gender and regional moderation effects indicated that female students and students from western regions benefited more from peer support. The progressive “support-efficacy-adaptation-health” mechanism revealed in this study deepens understanding of social support theory and provides empirical evidence for universities to build stratified and classified peer psychological support systems. It suggests that college mental health education should focus on cultivating a supportive campus culture and promoting the coordinated development of students’ self-efficacy and social adaptation abilities through structured peer counseling programs.</p>

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Long-term enhancement mechanisms of peer support on college students’ mental health: testing a chain mediation model based on three-year longitudinal tracking

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年1月8日

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  • Qing zhang

摘要

College students’ mental health problems have become an important challenge facing higher education. As a low-threshold and highly accessible form of social support, the mechanisms of peer support in mental health maintenance remain unclear. This study adopted a three-year longitudinal tracking design, collecting data from 1,842 college students at six time points, and used structural equation modeling and latent growth curve modeling to test the long-term enhancement effects of peer support on mental health through the chain mediation mechanism of self-efficacy and social adaptation. Results showed that peer support had a significant positive predictive effect on mental health (total effect β = 0.33, SE = 0.04, 95% CI [0.25, 0.41], p < .001), with indirect effects totaling 0.21 (SE = 0.03, 95% CI [0.15, 0.27], p < .001), accounting for 63.6% of the total effect. Specifically, the simple mediation effect through self-efficacy was 0.10 (30.3% of total effect), through social adaptation was 0.06 (18.2% of total effect), and the chain mediation effect through “self-efficacy → social adaptation” was 0.05 (15.1% of total effect), with Bootstrap confidence intervals for all indirect effects excluding zero. Longitudinal analysis found that all four core variables showed significant linear growth, with social adaptation having the largest growth slope (0.12). Cross-lagged tests confirmed the causal priority and cumulative enhancement characteristics of peer support. The Random Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Model (RI-CLPM) analysis further confirmed that within-person effects accounted for 58.2% of the total within-person association, supporting genuine individual change processes. The study also found a significant compensatory growth pattern (r = − .18), with students having lower initial mental health levels showing faster growth rates. Gender and regional moderation effects indicated that female students and students from western regions benefited more from peer support. The progressive “support-efficacy-adaptation-health” mechanism revealed in this study deepens understanding of social support theory and provides empirical evidence for universities to build stratified and classified peer psychological support systems. It suggests that college mental health education should focus on cultivating a supportive campus culture and promoting the coordinated development of students’ self-efficacy and social adaptation abilities through structured peer counseling programs.