Providing emotional support and daily emotional well-being among undergraduate students during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Receiving emotional support can improve one’s emotional well-being, but findings have been mixed regarding whether providing emotional support to friends and family can also improve the provider’s emotional well-being. Providing emotional support could be impactful during the COVID-19 pandemic, when individuals may be particularly in need of emotional support and social connection. Therefore, the present study assessed whether providing emotional support was related to role fulfillment and enhanced emotional well-being on a day-to-day basis during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants ( N = 167; Mage = 20.42, SD = 2.30; 73.1% female; 40.1% Asian, 18. 6% Latinx, 16.8% white) completed up to eight daily checklists ( Mchecklists = 6.54, SD = 2.10) in which they reported whether they provided emotional support to their friends and to their parents, their role fulfillment (i.e., the extent to which they felt like a good son/daughter and friend), and the degree of positive and negative emotion they were feeling. Participants reported higher positive emotion and lower negative emotion on days when they provided emotional support to friends, but not to parents, with potentially stronger associations in-person than virtually. Participants also reported higher role fulfillment as a good son/daughter and a good friend on days when they provided emotional support, and role fulfillment significantly mediated associations between providing emotional support and daily emotion. Taken together, results suggested that providing emotional support to friends—particularly in-person—was related to better emotional well-being by promoting a sense of role fulfillment as a good friend. Providing emotional support may provide one means for reinforcing social relationships and promoting emotional well-being during times of social isolation.