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<jats:title>Purpose</jats:title>
<jats:p>This study examined the bidirectional relationship between subjective wellbeing (SWB) and emotional distress (ED) among college students from a network perspective. It aimed to identify the cross-sectional network structure at two time points, identify the most central nodes, and explore bidirectional pathways between the two domains using cross-lagged network analysis.</jats:p>
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<jats:title>Methods</jats:title>
<jats:p>A two-wave longitudinal survey was conducted among college students from six universities in Jiangxi, Guizhou, and Jiangsu Provinces, China. Data were collected in December 2024 and December 2025 through the Wenjuanxing online platform. After screening and matching across waves, 1,354 students were retained for analysis. SWB was measured with the Index of Wellbeing Scale, and ED was measured with the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21. Cross-sectional networks were estimated at both time points, and a cross-lagged panel network model was used to examine cross-lagged relations over time.</jats:p>
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<jats:title>Results</jats:title>
<jats:p>The T1 and T2 networks had densities of 0.522 and 0.554, featuring predominantly positive within-domain and negative between-domain edges. At T1, “Life was meaningless” showed the highest strength, whereas at T2, “Hopeful” showed the highest strength. The cross-lagged network showed longitudinal predictive associations between SWB and ED from T1 to T2. Hopeful showed the strongest out-expected influence, 3.24, whereas Satisfied showed the strongest in-expected influence, 2.31. Network stability analysis supported the robustness of the centrality estimates.</jats:p>
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<jats:title>Conclusion</jats:title>
<jats:p>Network analysis revealed interconnected networks of SWB and ED among college students at both cross-sectional and longitudinal levels. The longitudinal findings indicate bidirectional predictive associations across a 1-year interval. These results highlight the value of a symptom-level approach and suggest that Hopeful and Satisfied may be informative nodes for future research on the temporal associations between positive and negative aspects of mental health.</jats:p>
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