Rumination, Anxiety and Existential Crisis. The Mediating Role of Coping Skills among University Students.

Abstract

This research looks at how rumination, anxiety, and existential crisis are connected, with coping skills playing a mediating role among Pakistani university students. Rumination, defined as repetitive negative thinking, is widely recognized as a transdiagnostic factor that worsens psychological distress. In the post-pandemic context, young adults face heightened academic, career, and social uncertainties, which not only increase ruminative tendencies but also foster anxiety and existential concerns regarding purpose, meaning, and the future. Despite substantial research on rumination and anxiety, the unique link between rumination and existential crisis remains underexplored, particularly in South Asian contexts. This paper, based on Response Styles Theory and cognitive-behavioral frameworks, pursues these relationships using a quantitative, cross-sectional survey design. University students aged 18–30 were recruited, and data were collected using standardized instruments, including the Rumination Response Scale (RRS), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7), the Existential Concerns Questionnaire (ECQ), and the Brief COPE Inventory. Correlation, regression, and mediation analyses through SPSS and SmartPLS were applied to test the hypothesized direct and indirect pathways among the variables. It is hoped that the findings will make theoretical contributions by highlighting rumination as a predictor not only of anxiety but also of existential crisis, and by clarifying the mediating role of maladaptive coping, especially avoidance. In practice, the research can guide culturally sensitive interventions in Pakistani universities, emphasizing resilience building, adaptive coping training, and stigma reduction in mental health support. This study adds to the limited empirical literature on existential concerns in South Asia and helps broaden the understanding of student mental health in rapidly changing socio-cultural contexts.