Tang Quan, Lei Guanghui, Zhang Yan, Shi Hui
Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
Center for Mental Health Education, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
Front Psychol. 2024 Jul 8;15:1381846. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1381846. eCollection 2024.
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted people's routine, bringing uncertainty and stress, leading to mental health issues. This situation is particularly acute among Chinese prospective graduates in higher education stage as they cannot predict the outcomes of their studies, graduation, and career development, and therefore experience career-related stress.
This study included 4041 prospective graduates in higher education stage (using handy sampling) recruited in March 2020 as participants (M = 22.56, = 1.865), utilizing a Sparse Gaussian Graphical Model for regularized partial correlation network analysis of depression symptoms (by PHQ-9), anxiety symptoms (by GAD-7), and career-related stress, which aims to explore the role of career-related stress in the symptom networks of depression and anxiety among prospective graduates in their final semester.
The results revealed that fatigue, sad mood, and psychomotor symptoms in depression, as well as uncontrollable worry and trouble relaxing in anxiety, were central symptoms in the network. Additionally, sad mood and guilt belonging to depressive symptoms, and feeling afraid, restlessness, and irritability belonging to anxiety symptoms, served as bridge symptoms connecting symptom communities. Specifically, guilt as a depressive symptom showed a strong association with employment stress in career-related stress. There were no significant differences in network structure and global strength based on participants' gender. However, despite no significant differences in network structure, the global strength of prospective graduates from Wuhan was significantly lower than samples from non-Hubei provinces, possibly indicative of a Typhoon Eye Effect.
The findings of this study can inspire psychological professionals in higher education institutions to provide support for mental interventions and therapies for prospective graduates, and addressing career development issues.
新冠疫情的爆发扰乱了人们的日常生活，带来了不确定性和压力，导致心理健康问题。这种情况在中国高等教育阶段的准毕业生中尤为严重，因为他们无法预测学业、毕业和职业发展的结果，因此会经历与职业相关的压力。
本研究纳入了2020年3月招募的4041名高等教育阶段的准毕业生（采用方便抽样）作为参与者（M = 22.56， = 1.865），利用稀疏高斯图形模型对抑郁症状（通过PHQ-9）、焦虑症状（通过GAD-7）和与职业相关的压力进行正则化偏相关网络分析，旨在探讨与职业相关的压力在最后一学期准毕业生抑郁和焦虑症状网络中的作用。
结果显示，抑郁中的疲劳、悲伤情绪和精神运动症状，以及焦虑中的无法控制的担忧和难以放松，是网络中的核心症状。此外，属于抑郁症状的悲伤情绪和内疚，以及属于焦虑症状的恐惧、不安和易怒，作为连接症状社区的桥梁症状。具体而言，作为抑郁症状的内疚与职业相关压力中的就业压力有很强的关联。基于参与者的性别，网络结构和全局强度没有显著差异。然而，尽管网络结构没有显著差异，但来自武汉的准毕业生的全局强度明显低于非湖北省的样本，这可能表明存在“台风眼效应”。
本研究的结果可以启发高等教育机构的心理专业人员为准毕业生提供心理干预和治疗支持，并解决职业发展问题。
