International students account for a growing proportion of university students and can experience mental health challenges. While the Social Identity Model of Identity Change (SIMIC) highlights the mental health-promoting benefits of preserving and building group memberships, it overlooks the effects of identifying with a particularly salient group such as fellow international students.

This study aimed to explore how SIMIC and international student identification contribute to understanding the protective factors that predict students’ mental health.

A cross-sectional survey of 343 international students employed path analyses to examine the associations among identification with fellow international students, social identity maintenance, new group memberships and psychological distress, with social support and resilience as potential mediators. Indirect effects were evaluated using 95% confidence intervals.

New group memberships (β = −0.01; P = 0.05; 95% CI = −0.03, −0) and identification with international students (β = −0.02; P = 0.05; 95% CI = −0.02, −0) predicted psychological distress, both mediated by social support and resilience. While the maintenance of previous groups did not indirectly predict psychological distress through these mechanisms (β = −0.01; P = 0.13; 95% CI = −0.02, 0), a significant indirect effect (β = −0.04; P = 0.03; 95% CI = −0.09, −0) was observed through social support when accounting for covariates.

Shared international student identity and new group memberships offer a sense of social support and resilience which, in turn, alleviates psychological distress. Interventions could reframe this identity as a source of strength for international students.

There is growing evidence of a beneficial effect of social group processes on well-being and mental health.

To investigate the role of group membership continuity in reducing mental ill-health among young people who were already vulnerable pre-pandemic, and to understand the social and psychological mechanisms of the benefits of group memberships for vulnerable young people.

This study takes a cross-sectional design, using survey data from a sample of 105 young people aged 16–35 years, collected approximately 1 year after the global COVID-19 outbreak (January to July 2021). Correlational and path analyses were used to test the associations between group membership continuity and mental health problems (depression, anxiety, psychotic-like experiences) and the mediation of these associations by hope and social connectedness (in-person and online). To correct for multiple testing, the Benjamini–Hochberg procedure was implemented for all analyses. Indirect effects were assessed with coverage of 99% confidence intervals.

Multiple prior group memberships were associated with preservation of group memberships during the COVID-19 pandemic. In-person social connectedness, online social connectedness and hope mediated the relationship between group membership continuity and mental health problem symptoms.

The results suggest that clinical and public health practice should support vulnerable young people to foster and maintain their social group memberships, hopefulness and perceived sense of social connectedness as means of helping to prevent exacerbation of symptoms and promote recovery of mental health problems, particularly during significant life events.