The Effect Of Positive Thinking On College Students’ Anxiety: A Mechanism Exploration And Intervention Study

In the post-epidemic era,anxiety is prevalent among college students due to the sharp increase in various pressures such as socio-economic,higher education and employment.Mild anxiety is a warning signal issued by the psyche about the current state,which can prompt individuals to be alert,but if left unchecked,it may lead to serious mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety disorders,which affect physical and mental health.Cognitive anxiety theory suggests that anxiety is caused by the irrational beliefs that individuals hold about themselves.Some studies have found that positive thinking can help improve anxiety in people.Positive thinking is the ability of an individual to focus on the current experience and maintain a nonjudgmental attitude to be aware of what he or she is feeling and thinking.This study explores the relationship between positive thinking and anxiety among college students,and the role of interpersonal sensitivity and retention experiences among college students,and develops and implements a group psychological intervention based on positive thinking to explore practical methods and theoretical support for alleviating anxiety among college students.Study 1 was conducted to understand the current status and relationship between positive thinking levels and anxiety among college students,as well as the role of interpersonal sensitivity and stay-at-home experiences.The results of data analysis showed that:(1)there were significant negative correlations between positive thoughts and its sub-dimensions of description,acting with awareness,non-judgment,and nonresponse,and interpersonal sensitivity and anxiety;there were significant positive correlations between anxiety and interpersonal sensitivity;(2)the mediating effect of interpersonal sensitivity between positive thoughts and anxiety was significant;and(3)stay-at-home experiences significantly moderated positive thoughts and anxiety.(3)The experience of detention significantly moderated the predictive effect of positive thoughts on interpersonal sensitivity,indicating that the interpersonal sensitivity of college students with experience of detention decreased more rapidly as the level of positive thoughts increased compared to students without experience of detention(p<0.05).In Study 2,a study of a positive thinking group intervention for anxiety in college students was conducted by designing,pretesting and revising a positive thinking group support program.Twenty-one subjects were recruited and screened and randomly divided into an experimental group(10,who received the positive thinking intervention)and a control group(11,who did not receive the positive thinking intervention).The results found that the experimental group had significantly higher levels of positive thinking(p<0.001)and significantly lower levels of both interpersonal sensitivity and anxiety(p<0.05),and there were no significant differences between the results of the posttest and follow-up tests in the experimental group(p>0.05).The study showed that positive thinking had a significant negative predictive effect on college students’ anxiety,while interpersonal sensitivity mediated between the two and the presence or absence of stay-at-home experience moderated;the designed positive thinking group counseling program and the implementation of positive thinking group counseling could alleviate college students’ anxiety.