During the COVID-19 Pandemic, mental distress in college-aged individuals was higher than in the adult general population (Jia et al., 2021). This study examined how perseverative negative thinking (PNT) and mindful nonjudging (MNJ) account for (mediate) the relationship between dispositional threat appraisal and depression symptom severity among undergraduate students, both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as across first and continuing generation college students (FGCS; CGCS). Although prior research has linked threat appraisal to emotional distress, the preceding mediators have not been examined together in undergraduates in relation to either the COVID-19 Pandemic or generational status. 

Participants included 499 undergraduates (pre-COVID n = 233; during COVID FGCS=40%). Data were collected online using survey software. Results indicated that PNT and MNJ fully mediated the relationship between dispositional threat appraisal and depression symptom severity pre-pandemic and partially during the pandemic. Both mediation effects were significantly stronger during the COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting that these cognitive processes had greater impact in periods of heightened stress. In addition, dispositional threat appraisal had a direct impact on depression symptom severity during the pandemic. Across generational status, both mediators fully accounted for the dispositional threat appraisal – depression symptom severity relationship. However, MNJ showed a significantly stronger mediation effect among CGCS, while PNT did not differ between groups. 

The findings suggested that maladaptive cognitive processing plays a key role in depression risk during periods of intense stress. These findings could reduce depression risk by utilizing targeted interventions that decrease PNT and increase MNJ in undergraduates.