Abstract:
The aim of present study was to explore the relationship in humor, emotion regulation, resilience, and mental health issues in university students. It was hypothesized that Humor would be negatively corelated with mental health issues in university students, whereas emotion regulation and resilience would be positively corelated with mental health issues in university students. Humor would be positively corelated with emotion regulation and resilience. Humor, emotional regulation, and resilience would be significant predictors of mental health issues in universities students. Emotion regulation (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression) and resilience would each mediate the relationship between humor and mental health issues, with higher adaptive humor predicting better emotion regulation and greater resilience, which in turn will predict fewer mental health problems. A sample of 334 university students (156 men, 178 women, aged 18 - 30 years) completed the Humor Styles Questionnaire (Martin et al., 2003), Emotion Regulation Questionnaire–Short (Gross & John, 2003),Brief Resilience Scale (Smith et al., 2008), and Mental Health Inventory (Veit & Ware, 1983). Correlational results showed that adaptive humor styles and resilience were associated with fewer mental health problems, whereas maladaptive humor styles, particularly self-defeating humor, were linked to higher distress. Mediation analysis using SmartPLS revealed that defeating humor significantly predicted cognitive reappraisal and resilience, but these variables did not significantly predict psychological distress. Moreover, the direct path from defeating humor to distress was also non-significant, indicating that the hypothesized mediation model was not supported. Despite this, the findings underscore the protective role of adaptive humor and resilience in promoting psychological well-being, while maladaptive humor remains a potential risk factor. Gender differences were observed in humor, and age was positively related to cognitive reappraisal. These findings highlight the protective role of humor, emotion regulation, and resilience in promoting mental health issues in university students. Incorporating humor-based and resilience-enhancing interventions in university mental health programs may help reduce stress and psychological distress. Training students in emotion regulation strategies, such as cognitive reappraisal, could further enhance coping abilities. These results highlight the practical importance of encouraging positive humor and resilience-building strategies as accessible interventions for students’ mental health, especially in the Pakistani context where formal psychological support is often limited.
