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The current study investigated the relationship between COVID-19 prevention burnout and emotional symptoms (depression and anxiety) among 1,837 Chinese college students and the underlying mechanisms. Results from moderated mediation analysis revealed that the association between COVID-19 prevention burnout and emotional symptoms was mediated by psychological inflexibility (β = 0.20, 95%CI = [0.10, 0.19]). Also, COVID-19 prevention burnout's direct and indirect effects on emotional symptoms were more substantial for students with high susceptibility to emotional contagion than those with low susceptibility. These findings contribute to understanding how COVID-19 prevention burnout relates to emotional symptoms and provide a new perspective for interventions promoting students' psychological flexibility, particularly those with higher susceptibility to emotional contagion., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Alexithymia is associated with adverse developmental outcomes. However, this concept has been criticized for being heavily influenced by Western norms of emotional expression and for potentially pathologizing people from different cultural backgrounds. Furthermore, the widely employed variable-centered study approaches hinder research understanding of real-world alexithymia profiles. Using a person-centered approach, the current study investigated the alexithymia profiles among Chinese college students and tested the profiles' relations with childhood adversity and COVID-19 burnout. Four latent alexithymia profiles were identified. The High I profile (particular difficulty identifying feelings) emerged as a risk profile for childhood adversity and COVID-19 burnout. Our findings illustrate the heterogeneity of the alexithymia construct and represent a significant step toward expanding cross-cultural understanding of alexithymia profiles and their associations with related psychological constructs. When dealing with childhood adversity and COVID-19 burnout, health care programs should consider a specific alexithymia profile defined by difficulty identifying feelings. • Using a person-centered study method, this study revealed four latent alexithymia profiles among Chinese college students. • The High I profile (difficulty identifying feelings) emerged as a risk profile for childhood adversity. • The High I profile was also the risk profile for COVID-19 burnout. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]