Diagnostic delays and suicidal thoughts and behaviors among young adults with a history of mood disorders.

Generation Z, who were the children of Generation X or millennials, includes people born from the mid-to-late 1990s to the early 2000s. Being known as “digital natives,” members of Generation Z are digitally literate, well-schooled, self-restraint, and responsive, and the life and academic satisfaction for Generation Z have become increasingly critical issues for higher education. Previous research has proved that life satisfaction is an important resource which college students could rely on and plan for their future lives (). Variations of satisfaction models have been tested for university students in China (), as well as in other developing countries. Since higher education is extremely important in traditional Chinese culture, and academic achievement count for a great deal in Generation Z’s college life (), life satisfaction was found to be linked with academic participation especially in recent studies (; ). In the post-epidemic era, Generation Z in China still encounter many difficulties: first, the economic downturn has led to fierce competition in the job market, and the phenomenon of “lying flat” in Generation Z has increased; second, the popularity of individualized entertainment such as live broadcasts and short videos has gradually replaced traditional campus culture, which increases the loneliness of college students; third, due to hardware and network conditions, students in poor areas have poor online learning effects, exacerbating educational inequality. All of these have affected the life satisfaction and academic satisfaction of Chinese college students of Generation Z. In support of Positive Psychology, our findings emphasize the critical role of psychological capital (PSY), which could make Generation Z more confident, or braver when they face difficulties in post-pandemic era. Psychological capital refers to a positive and proactive mental state typified by efficacy, hope, optimism, and resilience (). At the same time, psychological quality and emotions are also very important to young people’s learning. While PSY was proved to be related to college students’ well-being, little attention was paid to understanding how core self-evaluations (CSE) and PSY interact and affect college students’ satisfaction, has tested the interrelationship between self-esteem and optimism, which were part of both CSE and PSY, respectively. However, the relationship between the three (satisfaction, CSE, and PSY) was still unclear and previous findings were more speculation-based than empirical demonstrated.