When distress meets disability: social connectedness buffers functional impairment in university students

Higher education exposes students with disabilities to elevated psychological demands that can impair their health-related functioning and well-being. However, the extent to which interpersonal socio-emotional support and perceived youth social embeddedness operate as protective resources in this population, particularly in China, remains insufficiently understood. This study assessed the direct effects of internalizing symptoms, youth anxiety symptoms, and perceived stress burden on youth health-related functioning and well-being. It further examined whether interpersonal socio-emotional support climate and perceived youth social embeddedness moderated these associations. Perceived social embeddedness reflects students’ sense of integration and belonging within the university community, whereas socio-emotional support climate reflects the perceived availability of empathic and validating support. A cross-sectional design was employed to collect data from 531 university students with disabilities in Southwest China through an online survey that was distributed. Demographic measures and the DASS-21 were used in the questionnaire to measure internalizing symptoms, youth anxiety symptoms, and perceived stress burden. A partial least squares structural equation model was estimated to test the direct and moderate effects. Internalizing symptoms (β = −0.301), youth anxiety symptoms (β = −0.241), and perceived stress burden (β = −0.131) demonstrated significant adverse associations with youth health-related functioning and well-being. Perceived youth social embeddedness moderated the association between perceived stress burden and functioning (β = 0.252), whereas interpersonal socio-emotional support climate moderated the association between youth anxiety symptoms and functioning (β = 0.282). No moderation was detected for internalizing symptoms. These findings suggest targeted socio-emotional support systems for university students with disabilities to reduce psychological burden and safeguard functional well-being in academic environments.