Research on the Impact of Online Public Opinion on College Students' Mental Health — A Natural Language Processing–Based Approach

Authors

  • Yuchen Xiong Department of Economics and Management, Hubei polytechnic University, Hubei, China
  • Ruigang Ming Department of Economics and Management, Hubei polytechnic University, Hubei, China
  • Congxi Zhu Department of Economics and Management, Hubei polytechnic University, Hubei, China
  • Chenyu Yang Department of Economics and Management, Hubei polytechnic University, Hubei, China
  • Meiling Liu Department of Economics and Management, Hubei polytechnic University, Hubei, China

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.62051/ez39nt17

Keywords:

Online public opinion; college students; mental health; sentiment analysis; CNN-LSTM.

Abstract

As the Internet becomes deeply integrated into college students’ daily lives,online public opinion has become an important factor influencing their mental health.This study investigates its impact on college students by collecting textual data from news comments,Weibo,Zhihu,and university forums.Using high-frequency word analysis,word-cloud visualization,and sentiment analysis,CNN and CNN-LSTM models were developed to examine topics including online culture,online gaming,cyberbullying,online social networking, mental health, public opinion governance, and online discourse.The results show that negative sentiment outweighs positive and neutral sentiment in online discussions and tends to generate greater engagement,as reflected in higher numbers of comments and likes.In particular,cyberbullying, online gaming,online social networking,and online discourse emerge as key negative factors affecting college students’ mental health.The CNN-LSTM model also outperformed the CNN model in sentiment classification.The findings suggest that universities should strengthen online public opinion guidance, improve mental health services, and enhance students’ information literacy and emotional regulation.

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Published

02-07-2026

How to Cite

Xiong, Y., Ming, R., Zhu, C., Yang, C., & Liu, M. (2026). Research on the Impact of Online Public Opinion on College Students’ Mental Health — A Natural Language Processing–Based Approach. Transactions on Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, 16, 65-69. https://doi.org/10.62051/ez39nt17