Department of Social Work and Social Administration, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
Department of Psychology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
J Adolesc Health. 2023 May;72(5):788-795. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2022.11.243. Epub 2023 Jan 17.
Hong Kong youth and young adults experienced unprecedented stress amid social unrest and the COVID-19 pandemic. Few studies have examined how these stressors were related to psychological distress among youth and young adults. This study assessed how psychological distress is associated with stress from social unrest, financial circumstances, and the COVID-19 pandemic, and whether poor sleep quality may explain these associations.
Participants of a representative phone survey included 1,501 Hong Kong youth and young adults (Mage = 26.1 (4.0); 48.2% female). We examined the associations between psychological distress and three types of stress (social unrest, financial, and COVID-19 stress), and the indirect effect of poor sleep.
Eleven point nine percent, 4.1%, and 9.7% of respondents reported feeling very seriously distressed by social unrest, financial circumstances, and the COVID-19 pandemic, respectively. All three forms of stress were associated with poor sleep. The indirect effects of poor sleep on the association between all three forms of stress and psychological distress were identified. Moderated indirect effect analysis indicated that being female intensified the effect of COVID-19-related stress on psychological distress and that younger female youth and older male youth were more vulnerable to financial stress and social unrest stress (vs. older female youth and younger male youth).
Sleep may be one mechanism that accounts for the association between psychological distress and protracted stressors among Hong Kong youth and young adults. These results suggest the importance of prioritizing sleep improvement in mental health interventions during times of societal change.
香港的青年和年轻人在社会动荡和 COVID-19 大流行期间经历了前所未有的压力。很少有研究探讨这些压力源与青年和年轻人的心理困扰之间的关系。本研究评估了心理困扰与社会动荡、财务状况和 COVID-19 大流行带来的压力之间的关系，以及睡眠质量差是否可以解释这些关联。
代表性电话调查的参与者包括 1501 名香港青年和年轻人（Mage=26.1（4.0）；48.2%为女性）。我们研究了心理困扰与三种压力源（社会动荡、财务和 COVID-19 压力）之间的关系，以及睡眠质量差的间接影响。
11.9%、4.1%和 9.7%的受访者分别表示对社会动荡、财务状况和 COVID-19 大流行感到非常严重的困扰。所有三种形式的压力都与睡眠质量差有关。睡眠质量差对三种压力源与心理困扰之间的关联的间接影响被确定。调节的间接效应分析表明，女性身份加剧了 COVID-19 相关压力对心理困扰的影响，年轻的女性青年和年长的男性青年比年长的女性青年和年轻的男性青年更容易受到财务压力和社会动荡压力的影响。
睡眠可能是解释香港青年和年轻人心理困扰与长期压力源之间关系的一个机制。这些结果表明，在社会变革时期，优先考虑改善心理健康干预措施中的睡眠质量非常重要。
