Stress, Cognitive- Emotional Regulation, and Sense of Meaning Among Female Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Web-based Cross-Sectional Study

Background: COVID-19 pandemic has adverse psychosocial effects on families around the world. This pandemic is important as women are more responsible for the health care issues of their families. Objective: This study aimed to examine the relationship of cognitive-emotional regulation and sense of meaning in the perceived stress caused by the COVID-19 among female students. Methods: This research is analytical, cross-sectional. Using convenience sampling process, 100 female students from Islamic Azad University, Lahijan Branch, Lahijan City, Iran, were selected in May 2020. The data were collected using cognitive-emotional regulation, the meaning of life, and perceived stress questionnaires. Then, the obtained data were analyzed by the Pearson correlation and multiple linear regression (backward computation) with SPSS version 20. Results: According to the correlational analysis, there were negative significant relationships between perceived stress and some of cognitive-emotional regulation’s subscales, such as reassessment (r= -0.226, P=0.005) the presence of meaning (r= -0.341, P=0.001) and the sense of meaning (r= -0.211, P=0.005). Also, there were positive significant relationships between perceived stress and acceptance (r=0.175, P=0.005) and blaming others (r= -0.236, P=0.001) and thought rumination (r= -0.224, P=0.001). Based on regression analysis result, the presence of meaning, reassessment and blaming others can explain 22% of changes in perceived stress (P<0.001). Conclusion: Based on the study's findings, using strategies for cognitive-emotional regulation and maintaining a sense of meaning in life can reduce the intensity of psychological burden in stressful situations.