This study examines how social support affects mental health among university students with hearing impairment and explores the influencing mechanisms. In total, 470 hearing-impaired university students completed questionnaires. The findings reveal the positive relationship between social support and mental health, with adaptation mediating this relationship, accounting for 51.2% of the total effect. Moreover, disability duration moderates the relationship between social support and adaptation: the beneficial effect of social support on adaptation is more significant among students with disability durations over 10 years than among those with disability durations below 10 years. These findings suggest the need to implement targeted social support and adaptation interventions to enhance mental health among university students with hearing impairment.
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