Dongxia Guan
This study examined how digital media art engagement supports psychological resilience among international students in China. Digital media art was conceptualized as participation in digital drawing, collage, animation, photography, short video, immersive art, and online creative sharing. A cross-sectional quantitative design was used with 326 international students enrolled in Chinese universities. The model included four reflective constructs: digital media art engagement, emotion regulation through creative expression, intercultural social connectedness, and psychological resilience. Data were analyzed using PLS-SEM with reliability, validity, predictive relevance, mediation, moderation, and bootstrapped path tests. Results showed that digital media art engagement positively predicted psychological resilience and strongly enhanced emotion regulation through creative expression. Emotion regulation mediated the relationship between digital media art engagement and resilience, while intercultural social connectedness directly improved resilience and strengthened the engagement-resilience pathway. The findings suggest that digitally mediated creative expression can support resilience-oriented mental health interventions for international students.