In response to reports of people experiencing varying levels of anxiety and depression during the outbreak of COVID-19, researchers have argued that exposure to related information on social media is a salient contributing factor. Based on the integrated model of ruminative response style and the diathesis–stress model, it has been suggested that incorporating rumination and mindfulness may elucidate the potential mechanism underlying the aforementioned association. This study aimed to examine the mediating role of rumination and the moderating role of mindfulness in the association between social media exposure (SME) to COVID-19 information and psychological distress. The results from online questionnaire responses of 439 college students from two universities in Wuhan, Hubei Province, showed that rumination mediated the association between SME and psychological distress. Furthermore, mindfulness was revealed as a protective factor that buffered the adverse effect of SME on psychological distress through rumination. These findings advance a better understanding of the formation process of psychological symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic and provide insights regarding effective interventions for adverse mental health consequences in college students.

中文翻译：

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COVID-19爆发期间的社交媒体曝光和大学生的心理健康：反省的中介作用和正念的调节作用

为了回应有关在COVID-19爆发期间人们经历不同程度的焦虑和抑郁的报道，研究人员认为，暴露于社交媒体上的相关信息是一个重要的促成因素。基于反刍反应风格和素质-压力模型的综合模型，建议将反省和正念结合起来可以阐明上述关联的潜在机制。这项研究旨在探讨反刍的中介作用和正念的调节作用在社交媒体对COVID-19信息的暴露（SME）与心理困扰之间的关联。来自湖北省武汉市两所大学的439名大学生的在线问卷调查结果，表明反刍作用介导了中小企业与心理困扰之间的联系。此外，正念被揭示为一种保护因素，可减轻中小型企业通过反省对心理困扰的不利影响。这些发现使人们对COVID-19大流行期间心理症状的形成过程有了更好的了解，并提供了有关对大学生不利的心理健康后果进行有效干预的有效见解。