The roles of resilience and belonging in mediating the association between positivity and anxiety among underrepresented college students.

Objective: Investigate the association of positivity with generalized anxiety and the mediating roles of resilience and sense of belonging in underrepresented college students. Participants: College students (N = 425; 18.4% White, 17.9% Black, 40.2% Hispanic, 20.2% Asian; 38.1% first-generation; Mage = 19.06; 63.1% female) completed an online survey assessing positivity, anxiety, resilience, and belonging. Methods: Path analysis tested the proposed mediation model, controlling for age, sex, race/ethnicity, first-generation status, living status, and diagnosed disability. Results: Positivity was negatively associated with anxiety directly (ƅ = -.468, p < .001) and indirectly through resilience (ƅ = -.083, p < .001), but not through belonging (ƅ = -.026, p > .05). Positivity was associated with belonging (ƅ = .611, p < .001); belonging was not associated with anxiety (ƅ = -.042, p > .05). Conclusions: Findings highlight the benefit of positivity on anxiety and the mediating role of resilience among underrepresented college students.