Obsessive–compulsive symptoms in university students are increasingly conceptualized as an outcome of interactions between personality predispositions, anxiety, and emotion-regulation difficulties under chronic academic stress. This paper aims to systematize contemporary evidence on the role of emotion regulation in the development and maintenance of obsessive–compulsive manifestations in students and to describe typical regulatory tendencies based on pilot data. The methodology combines an analytical review and synthesis of international and local literature with a pilot survey conducted among students of Abai Kazakh National Pedagogical University (September–December 2025). The assessment included SCL-90-R (obsessive–compulsive and general distress indices), the Big Five Personality Inventory, the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and a brief questionnaire targeting emotion-regulation strategies. The findings indicate a tendency toward predominantly maladaptive regulation patterns (suppression, avoidance, and excessive cognitive control) in the context of elevated anxiety and more pronounced obsessive–compulsive tendencies, whereas cognitive reappraisal is associated with a more favorable emotional profile. A process-oriented model is proposed linking personality characteristics, anxiety, and emotional dysregulation as mechanisms contributing to the stabilization of compulsive behavior. The scientific novelty lies in clarifying emotion regulation as a potential mediating link in student obsessive–compulsive manifestations and in substantiating implications for early prevention and psychocorrective interventions in the university setting.