Cross sectional analysis of emotion regulation, psychological distress and well being of emerging adult students in Urban India post COVID 19

India’s vast youth population offers a unique lens for exploring their emotional regulation and mental health, which remain underexplored despite their importance. This study, the first of its kind, examines post-COVID cognitive reappraisal (CR), expressive suppression (ES), and their broader mental health interconnections among 1628 young adult students (aged 18–29) from higher educational institutions in India’s Tier-1 cities using the Mental Health Inventory (MHI-38) and Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ). Variations in emotion regulation and mental health were analysed across gender, age groups, course categories, cities, and geographical zones using t-tests and ANOVA. Significant gender differences in emotion regulation and mental health were found. Cognitive reappraisal varied across gender, age groups, cities, and geographical zones. Females reported more usage of cognitive reappraisal and experienced greater distress compared to males. Cognitive reappraisal correlated with better psychological well-being, whereas expressive suppression correlated with psychological distress. Alarmingly, 42% of young adult participants exhibited medium to high levels of expressive suppression, indicating a pressing psychological crisis that could have devastating effects on the emotional well-being and mental health of young adults. Findings suggest that while pre-existing emotional regulation patterns have persisted, post-pandemic stress has intensified their impact, widening gender and regional disparities in mental health. These results underscore the need for Interventions promoting mental health awareness and emotion management techniques for the overall well-being of young adults, especially in higher educational landscapes.