# Mechanisms and Contingencies of Stress in University Students: A Systematic Scoping Review of Stress Mediators and Moderators

## TL;DR

This paper reviews how stress develops in university students, focusing on factors that mediate or moderate the stress process.

## Contribution

The study systematically identifies eight key perspectives influencing stress in university students through conditional process analyses.

## Key findings

- Most studies focused on mediation rather than moderation in stress processes.
- Personal resources and beliefs strongly influence perceived stress.
- Few studies included physiological or multimodal stress measurements.

## Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the contingencies involved in the stress process in university students by identifying evidence obtained through conditional process analyses. A systematic scoping review of mixed study designs was carried out following the methodological framework of Arksey and O’Malley and PRISMA-ScR guidelines. PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Redalyc, and Wdg. Búsqueda were searched for original studies published in full through August 2025 that reported conditional process analysis with stress as the outcome. After screening 1033 records, a total of 30 articles met the inclusion criteria. The main perspectives used in the included studies involved individuals’ beliefs about themselves and their future, highlighting the importance of personal resources and their relationship to perceived stress. The studies show a clear predominance of mediation analysis (25/30) over moderation analyses (2/30), along with limited inclusion of physiological (3/30) or multimodal measurements (1/30). Our synthesis provides a basis for advancing the understanding of the stress process in university students, indicating eight general perspectives of study to account for the intervening variables: standards for oneself, motivation, cognitive content, repetitive negative thinking, self-regulatory psychological resources, current status, social resources and environmental demands, and coping orientation.