Predictive effect of social support on posttraumatic growth of medical students in China

This study explored sense of life meaning and psychological resilience as potential mechanisms underlying the predictive effect of perceived social support on posttraumatic growth in medical students in the postpandemic era. Our sample comprised 711 Chinese medical students who completed online questionnaires. We found that sense of life meaning and psychological resilience were positively correlated with posttraumatic growth. In addition, perceived social support was positively correlated with sense of life meaning and psychological resilience. After controlling for demographic covariates, the results indicated that perceived social support predicted the posttraumatic growth of medical students directly and indirectly through sense of life meaning and psychological resilience as individual and chain mediators. The findings provide insights for medical universities to address the mental health challenges persisting among medical students in the postpandemic era.