Quality of life (QoL) has become a major concern for policymakers and researchers in recent decades. QoL was defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as “individuals’ perceptions of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns” [1]. QoL includes a group of life conditions and satisfaction. This life condition and satisfaction includes physical, psychological, and social aspects [2].

In the context of people with disability, QoL is a more complex and sophisticated issue as it encompasses their well-being and satisfaction with life [3]. QoL has been affected by many issues, such as mental health [4,5], self-efficacy [4], physical fitness, self-esteem, and academic performance [3], disability service support, family support, and friends’ support [6].

The link between mental health (MH) and QoL, especially among disabled students, was raised recently, albeit by a few scholars, as an important concern [4,5]. MH was identified as a vital issue, especially for disabled students [5,7]. MH is defined as the status of mental well-being, which qualifies individuals to cope with life stress, recognize their abilities, and work with others [8]. It is a side of an individual’s health that affects their abilities to make decisions, work with others and shape their own world. It was identified as basic human rights. The level and degree of MH varies from one to another that could be beyond the mental disorder and hence would have different social and clinical outcomes [8].

MH would become a more critical health concern among disabled people as studies [4,5] revealed that disabled people would experience MH disorders more than other people [9]. This is because disabled people are more likely to suffer from discrimination and stigmatization than other people, which could affect their mental health [10]. They often suffer from accessibility due to physical fitness as well as social isolation, which increases stress more than other people [9]. Furthermore, they could have chronic pain and some health conditions that also increase the risk of depression and anxiety [6].

Even though there are growing studies [4,5,6] on the direct or indirect link between MH and QoL, particularly among those students with disabilities, limited studies to date have addressed the role of support, especially emotional ones, in mitigating the negative effect of mental health among disabled health, which could happen due to various reasons, on their QoL [5,6,11]. For example, Al-Shaer et al. [6] examined the moderating role of social connectedness on the relationship between the three dimensions of MH and QoL. They found that social connectedness was able to moderate the effect of stress on QoL but failed to mitigate the negative influence of depression and anxiety on QoL among disabled students. In the same context, Moustafa et al. [5] found that student support services that were provided to disabled students at Saudi universities were able to alleviate the negative effect of MH disorder on the QoL. Notwithstanding this, none of the published studies to date, to the best of the knowledge of the research team, have addressed the moderating role of emotional support given to disabled people, particularly students, in the link between MH and their QoL. This study bridges this research gap and informs families, university disability units, and tutors on how they could deal with disabled students to ensure their QoL.

This study builds on Social Support Theory (SST) [12], which reveals that social support, especially emotional ones, significantly affects MH as it protects people from negative consequences of stress, anxiety and depression [5]. Emotional support (ES) systems, as a main pillar of social sustainability, can promote equitable, inclusive, settings, ensuring that disabled students can thrive for long term. This could be more important for disabled students, who could experience more MH disorders than other students. The theory assumes that different forms of social support, including emotional, informational and companionship support, could mitigate the challenges that students with disabilities face and encourage their well-being and, ultimately, their quality of life. Providing emotional support to disabled students in forms of empathy, concern, love, trust, acceptance, care, and encouragement made them feel valued and cared and loved [13]. Emotional support can be employed to mitigate the adverse influence of stress by offering methods to effectively cope with stressful circumstances; e.g., a strong support network can help students restructure stressful situations, minimizing the perception of severity and fostering resilience [14]. Emotional support can also mitigate anxiety perception by offering a feeling of belonging and security. Knowing that peer students are available to offer assistance can minimize the feelings of fear and uncertainty [15]. Supportive and social relationships as well encourage high positive adaptive strategies, such as problem solving or finding help, which might minimize anxiety feelings [16]. SST indicates that emotional support and friendship might help counteract the symptoms of depression by promoting a feeling of purpose and connection [17]. Emotional support is located at the core of SST and plays a key role in mitigating the relationships between anxiety, stress, depression, and QoL [18]. Hence, this research examines whether emotional support given to students with a disability could mitigate the negative impact of MH on quality of their life. This study is directly relevant to UN “Sustainable Development Goals” (SDGs), specifically, SDG 3 “Good Health and Well-being” and SDG 4 “Quality Education”, by highlighting mental health barriers to sustain equitable education opportunities. The next section of this manuscript discusses research hypotheses. It then presents the methods adopted for collecting and analyzing the data. This is followed by presenting and discussing the research findings. The manuscripts are concluded with final remarks and future research opportunities.

The results revealed the three factors of mental health disorders (depression, stress, and anxiety) are key determinants of QoL among KSA university-disabled students. Depression was the most effective element that highly and negatively impacted QoL (β = −0.288). This result is consistent with previous evidence, which indicated that depression could severely damage life satisfaction and functional capabilities, particularly in people who are facing extra challenges such as disability [1,55]. The high occurrence of depressive syndrome between KSA disabled students indicates the need for urgent mental health in interferences as depression arise as a key element diminishing QoL between KSA disabled students. Popular symptoms of depression include a lack of energy, decreased motivation, and a dominant mood of helplessness, which are deepened by some challenges facing disabled students in university life. For these particular students, depression can cause isolation, lower academic performance, and a low feeling of belonging. Previous research (i.e., [55]) confirmed these results, highlighting that people with disability conditions or chronic health are more prone to high depression rates, significantly and negatively impacting their overall QoL.

The results also found that stress can significantly decrease the QoL level among KSA disabled students (β = −0.147). Stress in a university context regularly comes from high academic demands, feelings of social isolation, and approachability limitations. Disabled students in KSA universities may face exceptional stressors, such as stigma, which impair their challenges [6]. The current study confirms previous research results that highlighted the negative impact of stress on well-being in similar populations [5]. To manage this issue, more efforts at the university level must design stress management program customized to the unique requirements of disabled students. These may incorporate social-psychological treatment, friends, support teams, and university policies that confirm the inclusivity and accessibility for disabled students. Applying such methods may mitigate the negative impacts of stress and significantly improve the QoL of disabled students in KSA universities.

Anxiety was another factor in our study that was found to impair QoL (β = −0.171). KSA University disabled students may encounter high levels of anxiety due to ambiguity encompassing their social and academic practices. This is in line with results from research implemented on some students with disabilities, where anxiety was associated with lower academic performance and diminished social interaction [56]. For university students with disabilities, anxiety’s effect on QoL is frequently deepened by distinctive annoyances, such as handling their situation while trying to balance academic difficulties. The two-fold burden of living with a disability and suffering from anxiety can generate a feedback loop, where emotional and physical challenges impair each other, causing a sharp decline in QoL [57]. Furthermore, social and cultural elements in KSA, such as stigma, may block university students from asking for help, further declining their QoL [58].

While the previous literature has investigated the link from mental health to QoL, limited research has been dedicated to disabled university students, specifically in the context of KSA university students. By incorporating disability with mental health disorder, and the PES as a moderator, this study improves our theoretical understanding of how psychological distress uniquely impacts the QoL of students with disabilities in KSA setting. Moreover, this study extends the implementation of the stress-buffering hypothesis introduced by Cohen and Wills [59] by showing that the PES moderates the adverse impacts of mental health disorders on QoL. The results indicated that higher emotional support weakens the detrimental impact of stress and anxiety, strengthening the theoretical assumption that emotional and social resources have a key role in psychological well-being.

The empirical findings also support the hypotheses that the PES can significantly moderate the link from mental health disorders to QoL. KSA university students who recognize and feel higher emotional support levels demonstrate a weaker adverse link from stress/anxiety to QoL, emphasizing the protective function of emotional and social resources. The PES functions as a shield against the detrimental impacts of stress. Students who perceive support from their friends, family, or university support services are better able to cope with university life stressors. This is consistent with the buffering assumption of social support, which argues that emotional support can moderate the harmful influences of stress on people’s mental health and well-being [59]. Positioning emotional support as a main investment can help disabled students to contribute in a meaningful way to society well-being, which in return can promote long-term sustainable development. For anxiety as a mental health disorder, the PES grants reassurance and a feel of security, which decreases perceptions of anxiety and successfully facilitates handling the social and academic challenges of KSA university students. Emotional support promotes a feeling of acceptance and belonging, which is specifically influential for disabled students who may encounter disregard or stigma [60]. However, our finding revealed that the PES failed to moderate the negative impact of depression on the QoL of disabled students in KSA universities. These results are interesting, taking into consideration that depression worldwide is the leading cause of disability [8]. Depression is a complicated mental health disorder categorized by a continual sense of hopelessness, sadness, and a lack of motivation. Unlike other mental health disorders (i.e., stress and anxiety), which are frequently situational and can be improved through direct emotional or social support, depression includes deep-rooted emotional and cognitive challenges that cannot be simply handled by external emotional support alone [61]. KSA disabled students often encounter extra pressures, such as limited accessibility, social stigma, and systemic restrictions, which may impair depressive signs. The chronic and inescapable nature of depression can surpass the protective impacts of the PES, as external emotional support (alone) may not be enough to manage the causal environmental and psychological elements contributing to their disorder [5]. These study results have some key practical and theoretical implications. The results highlighted the significance of incorporating mental health support services into university disability programs. Psychological intercession (i.e., cognitive-behavioral therapy) (CBT) and stress/anxiety management training can be remarkably useful for mitigating the symptoms of stress and anxiety [60]. Furthermore, promoting a comprehensive campus surrounding that fosters social interactions and psychological security is crucial. Friend support, networks, and awareness programs can act as a pivotal factor in decreasing stigma and promoting help-seeking practices. Furthermore, higher education institutions should build and develop sustainable support systems to foster retention, engagement, and lifelong outcomes for marginalized students (i.e., disabled students). The results also contribute to enhancing our theoretical understanding of how mental health disorders influence QoL in the context of disability students. By confirming the significant roles of depression, stress, and anxiety, this study highlights the importance of implementing a biopsychosocial (biological, psychological, and social factors) framework in future research on disability and well-being.