The impact of stress on sleep quality: a mediation analysis based on longitudinal data

Objective: This study evaluates the potential mechanisms through which stress affects sleep quality and examines the mediating roles of rumination, social anxiety, emotion-focused coping strategies, and smartphone dependence in the relationship between stress and sleep quality.

Methods: From October 2023 to April 2024, we conducted three surveys with 426 university students and utilized structural equation modeling to explore the mechanisms by which stress impacts sleep quality.

Results: Stress not only significantly predicts sleep quality but also significantly affects sleep quality through rumination, emotion-focused coping strategies, and smartphone dependence as independent mediators. Additionally, stress influences sleep quality through both dual-mediation and triple-mediation paths.

Conclusion: Stress has a significant direct and indirect impact on sleep quality. This study reveals the complex mechanisms through which stress affects sleep quality. Improving individuals' sleep quality requires not only considering the influence of real-life stressors but also examining the intersecting effects between stress and factors such as ruminative thinking, social anxiety, smartphone dependency, and emotion-focused coping strategies. The intense social competition in Chinese society exacerbates the decline in sleep quality, highlighting the need for the government to implement more policies aimed at maintaining the physical and mental health of the population to alleviate the increasingly severe sleep issues and mental health crisis.