{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,24]],"date-time":"2026-08-24T10:35:38Z","timestamp":1787567738131,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":48,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,24]],"date-time":"2026-08-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1787529600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100002881","name":"Civil Aviation University of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["3122025011"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["3122025011"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100002881","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["3122025011"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["3122025011"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/03je71k37","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Behav. Sci.","Behavioral Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Objective: This study examines the relationship between family support and somatic symptoms and tests whether anxiety and depression serially mediate this relationship differently between peer counselors and general students within an integrated framework of Conservation of Resources Theory, Social Support Theory, and the Gain Spiral mechanism. Methods: A total of 2576 peer counselors and 5446 general students completed the University Personality Inventory (UPI), the Depression\u2013Anxiety\u2013Stress Scale (DASS-21), and the Perceived Social Support Scale (PSSS). Results: \u2460 Peer counselors reported higher family support and lower depression, anxiety, and somatic symptoms than general students. \u2461 Depression independently mediated the effect in both groups (68.4% vs. 82.6% of the total effect; group difference non-significant). \u2462 Serial mediation via anxiety and depression was significant and full in general students, but not-significant in peer counselors, where only anxiety acted as an independent mediator. Conclusions: The association between family support and somatic symptoms follows distinct pathways across groups. General students exhibit a complete anxiety\u2013depression sequential mediation pathway. In contrast, peer counselors show a simplified mediation pattern alongside a stronger direct association. These findings offer empirical evidence for developing tiered mental health strategies in higher education.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/bs16091465","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,24]],"date-time":"2026-08-24T09:20:02Z","timestamp":1787563202000},"page":"1465","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Family Support and Somatic Symptoms: The Serial Mediating Roles of Anxiety and Depression\u2014A Multi-Group Comparison Between Peer Counselors and General Students"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Jin","family":"Yu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Mental Health Guidance Center, Civil Aviation University of China, Tianjin 300300, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Haibo","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387, China"},{"name":"Tianjin Social Science Laboratory of Students\u2019 Mental Development and Learning, Tianjin 300387, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zhixing","family":"Liang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Academic Affairs Office, Civil Aviation University of China, Tianjin 300300, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,24]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"469","DOI":"10.1037\/0003-066X.55.5.469","article-title":"Emerging adulthood. A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties","volume":"55","author":"Arnett","year":"2000","journal-title":"American Psychologist"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Chen, D., Zhu, Y., Shang, Z., and Chen, W. (2026). The impact of family intimacy on college students\u2019 negative emotions\u2014The chain mediating effect of social support and psychological resilience. Frontiers in Psychology, 17.","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1783366"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"15021","DOI":"10.1007\/s12144-025-08242-8","article-title":"Exploring the influence of college students\u2019 crisis life events on suicidal ideation: A chain multiple mediation model linking social support, anxiety and depression","volume":"44","author":"Chen","year":"2025","journal-title":"Current Psychology"},{"key":"ref_4","first-page":"80","article-title":"The relationship between intolerable uncertainty and anxiety in college students: The mediating role of family support and friend support","volume":"20","author":"Chen","year":"2025","journal-title":"Psychological Monthly"},{"key":"ref_5","first-page":"67","article-title":"A pilot study on effect of peer-counseling on mental health and social support of college students taking Anhui University of Chinese Medicine as an example","volume":"15","author":"Chen","year":"2017","journal-title":"Journal of Jinzhou Medical University (Social Science Edition)"},{"key":"ref_6","first-page":"1","article-title":"Effect of subjective social status on college students\u2019 depression: The role type of different social support and its gender differences","volume":"22","author":"Cheng","year":"2024","journal-title":"Journal of Campus Life & Mental Health"},{"key":"ref_7","unstructured":"Sun, X. H., and Jiang, Y. (2025). Report on the mental health status of college students in 2024. Report on national mental health development in China (2023\u20132024), Social Sciences Academic Press. (In Chinese)."},{"key":"ref_8","first-page":"443","article-title":"Psychometric properties of the Chinese versions of DASS-21 in Chinese college students","volume":"18","author":"Gong","year":"2010","journal-title":"Chinese Journal of Clinical Psychology"},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"78","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jvb.2008.01.003","article-title":"Positive gain spirals at work: From job resources to work engagement, personal initiative and work-unit innovativeness","volume":"73","author":"Hakanen","year":"2008","journal-title":"Journal of Vocational Behavior"},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1628","DOI":"10.1177\/0149206312455246","article-title":"To invest or not? The role of coworker support and trust in daily reciprocal gain spirals of helping behavior","volume":"41","author":"Halbesleben","year":"2015","journal-title":"Journal of Management"},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Han, S. S., Zhang, Y. S., Zhu, W., Ye, Y. P., Li, Y. X., Meng, S. Q., Feng, S., Li, H., Cui, Z. L., Zhang, Y., and Zhang, Q. (2025). Status and epidemiological characteristics of depression and anxiety among Chinese university students in 2023. BMC Public Health, 25, (1).","DOI":"10.1186\/s12889-025-22443-7"},{"key":"ref_12","unstructured":"Hayes, A. F. (2018). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach (Methodology in the social sciences), The Guilford Press. [2nd ed.]."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"513","DOI":"10.1037\/0003-066X.44.3.513","article-title":"Conservation of resources. A new attempt at conceptualizing stress","volume":"44","author":"Hobfoll","year":"1989","journal-title":"American Psychologist"},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1155","DOI":"10.1037\/bul0000111","article-title":"Anxiety and depression as bidirectional risk factors for one another: A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies","volume":"143","author":"Jacobson","year":"2017","journal-title":"Psychological Bulletin"},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"719","DOI":"10.1007\/s10490-023-09870-z","article-title":"The role of altruistic behavior and genetic influence of drd4 in resource gain and resource loss spirals","volume":"41","author":"Jia","year":"2024","journal-title":"Asia Pacific Journal of Management"},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Jiang, T., Zhang, S., and Jiang, D. (2026). Key factors and serial mediation analysis of anxiety and depression among university students: A cross-sectional study. Frontiers in Psychology, 17.","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyt.2026.1809332"},{"key":"ref_17","first-page":"153","article-title":"Status and risk factors of depression with somatization symptoms in college students during the pandemic of COVID-19","volume":"34","author":"Li","year":"2021","journal-title":"Sichuan Mental Health"},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1222","DOI":"10.1111\/jcpp.13606","article-title":"Prevalence and associated factors of depression and anxiety symptoms among college students: A systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"63","author":"Li","year":"2022","journal-title":"Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines"},{"key":"ref_19","first-page":"3","article-title":"Social support and its mechanism for mental health","volume":"3","author":"Liu","year":"2010","journal-title":"Psychological Research"},{"key":"ref_20","first-page":"763","article-title":"The effect of family support, cognitive reappraisal, and resilience on social anxiety: A comparison between gifted and nongifted children","volume":"33","author":"Liu","year":"2025","journal-title":"Chinese Journal of Clinical Psychology"},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"20","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jad.2018.02.074","article-title":"Temporal dynamics and longitudinal co-occurrence of depression and different anxiety syndromes in youth: Evidence for reciprocal patterns in a 3-year prospective study","volume":"234","author":"Long","year":"2018","journal-title":"Journal of Affective Disorders"},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"335","DOI":"10.1016\/0005-7967(94)00075-U","article-title":"The structure of negative emotional states: Comparison of the depression anxiety stress scales (DASS) with the beck depression and anxiety inventories","volume":"33","author":"Lovibond","year":"1995","journal-title":"Behaviour Research & Therapy"},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Lovibond, S., and Lovibond, P. (1995). Manual for the depression anxiety stress scales, Sydney Psychology Foundation. [2nd ed.].","DOI":"10.1037\/t01004-000"},{"key":"ref_24","first-page":"1142","article-title":"Effects of cumulative family risk on internalizing problems in university students","volume":"46","author":"Lu","year":"2025","journal-title":"Chinese Journal of School Health"},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Marcos-Escobar, G., G\u00f3mez, M. E., and Unanue, W. (2025). Understanding the transition from stress to depression: A longitudinal mediational analysis of anxiety in adults from the Metropolitan Region of Chile. Frontiers in Psychology, 16.","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2025.1668518"},{"key":"ref_26","first-page":"159","article-title":"UPI\u2019s investigation about the mental health of university students","volume":"2","author":"Nakai","year":"2007","journal-title":"Tsukuba Gakuin University Bulletin"},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"673","DOI":"10.1007\/s11135-006-9018-6","article-title":"A caution regarding rules of thumb for variance inflation factors","volume":"41","year":"2007","journal-title":"Quality & Quantity"},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"41","DOI":"10.1080\/07448481.2018.1515748","article-title":"Trends in college students\u2019 mental health diagnoses and utilization of services, 2009\u20132015","volume":"68","author":"Oswalt","year":"2020","journal-title":"Journal of American College Health: Journal of ACH"},{"key":"ref_29","first-page":"325","article-title":"Path analysis of influencing factors of depressive symptoms among college students","volume":"23","author":"Pan","year":"2025","journal-title":"Journal of Campus Life & Mental Health"},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Qi, Y., Zhao, M., Geng, T., Tu, Z., Lu, Q., Li, R., Niu, L., Qu, W., Zhong, Y., and Gao, Y. (2024). The relationship between family functioning and social media addiction among university students: A moderated mediation model of depressive symptoms and peer support. BMC Psychology, 12, (1).","DOI":"10.1186\/s40359-024-01818-2"},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Shi, H. (2024). The effect of social support on home isolation anxiety and depression among college students in the post-pandemic era: The mediating effect of perceived loss of control and the moderating role of family socioeconomic status. Frontiers in Public Health, 12.","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2024.1288848"},{"key":"ref_32","first-page":"33","article-title":"Association between residential status and the University Personality Inventory test among first-year university students","volume":"27","author":"Takahashi","year":"1995","journal-title":"Bulletin of Toyo Women\u2019s Junior College"},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Tan, P., Wang, R., Long, T., Wang, Y., Ma, C., and Ma, Y. (2024). Associations between parental autonomy support and depressive symptoms among Chinese college students: The chain-mediating effects of mindfulness and self-esteem. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, (15).","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2024.1301662"},{"key":"ref_34","first-page":"176","article-title":"Summary of anxiety theories","volume":"17","author":"Tang","year":"2009","journal-title":"Chinese Journal of Clinical Psychology"},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Wang, H., Sun, W., Zhou, Y., Li, T., and Zhou, P. (2022). Teachers\u2019 assessment literacy improves teaching efficacy: A view from conservation of resources theory. Frontiers in Psychology, 13.","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2022.1007830"},{"key":"ref_36","first-page":"10","article-title":"Effect of competence of class psychological commissioners on psychological health: The chain mediating role of perceived social support and resilience","volume":"41","author":"Wang","year":"2021","journal-title":"Psychological Exploration"},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Wang, X., Yang, S., Fu, K., Zhang, Y., and Tang, C. (2026). Early-life adversities are associated with anxiety and somatic symptoms among university students: Moderation by family support. BMC Psychology, 14, (1).","DOI":"10.1186\/s40359-025-03839-x"},{"key":"ref_38","first-page":"669","article-title":"Anxiety, depression and somatization symptoms of undergraduates in comprehensive universities and their influencing factors","volume":"44","author":"Xu","year":"2013","journal-title":"Journal of Sichuan University (Medical Science Edition)"},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Xue, C., Peng, H., Li, G., Fang, J., Wang, X., Zhao, B., Liu, P., Liang, Z., and Tang, W. (2026). Exploring the relationship between family support and eating behaviors among college students with subjective well-being as the central mediating variable. Frontiers in Psychology, 17.","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1735152"},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"31293","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-025-17317-2","article-title":"Physical exercise and depression in university students with psychological resilience as a mediator and family support as a moderator","volume":"15","author":"Yang","year":"2025","journal-title":"Scientific Reports"},{"key":"ref_41","first-page":"41","article-title":"Application of perceived social support scale in China","volume":"12","author":"Yang","year":"2004","journal-title":"Chinese Journal of Clinical Psychology"},{"key":"ref_42","first-page":"52","article-title":"Depression and anxiety and their related factors among college students in Lanzhou, Gansu Province","volume":"50","author":"Yang","year":"2024","journal-title":"Journal of Lanzhou University (Medical Sciences)"},{"key":"ref_43","first-page":"650","article-title":"The influence of parent-child attachment on psychological commissioners\u2019 competency: A moderated mediation model","volume":"11","author":"Yu","year":"2023","journal-title":"Psychology: Techniques and Applications"},{"key":"ref_44","first-page":"2048","article-title":"Application of perceived social support scale in Chinese hospitalized patients","volume":"32","author":"Zhang","year":"2018","journal-title":"Nursing Research"},{"key":"ref_45","unstructured":"Zhang, J. (2015). Investigation and analysis of the mental health status of the backbone of contemporary college students\u2019 psychological education. The Party Building and Ideological Education in Schools, 3. (In Chinese)."},{"key":"ref_46","first-page":"1","article-title":"Study on the relationship between psychosomatic status and personality factors of medical students","volume":"21","author":"Zhang","year":"2000","journal-title":"Chinese Journal of School Health"},{"key":"ref_47","first-page":"1722","article-title":"Asociation between plysical activity and anxiety\/depression symptoms among college students in Jiangxi Province","volume":"45","author":"Zhou","year":"2024","journal-title":"Chinese Journal of School Health"},{"key":"ref_48","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"30","DOI":"10.1207\/s15327752jpa5201_2","article-title":"The multidimensional scale of perceived social support","volume":"52","author":"Zimet","year":"1988","journal-title":"Journal of Personality Assessment"}],"container-title":["Behavioral Sciences"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2076-328X\/16\/9\/1465\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,24]],"date-time":"2026-08-24T09:39:42Z","timestamp":1787564382000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2076-328X\/16\/9\/1465"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,24]]},"references-count":48,"journal-issue":{"issue":"9","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9]]}},"alternative-id":["bs16091465"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/bs16091465","relation":{},"ISSN":["2076-328X"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2076-328X","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,24]]}}}