Lai Yun-Ju, Tsai En-Yun, Jarustanaput Ploypapus, Wu Yi-Syuan, Chen Yi-Hau, O'Leary Samantha E, Manachevakul Sumatchara, Zhang Yuan, Shen Jiabin, Wang Yan
School of Nursing, Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA, United States.
School of Pharmacy, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Front Psychol. 2024 Jul 16;15:1403146. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1403146. eCollection 2024.
College students showed a high prevalence of stress, anxiety, and depression, with medical and nursing students experiencing particularly elevated levels of mental health challenges.Optimism significantly influences overall well-being by promoting a healthy lifestyle and cognitive responses. However, the association of optimism with sleep quality, stress, and mental health in college students remains unexplored. This study aimed to (1) explore the associations of optimism with sleep quality, stress, and mental health and (2) ascertain whether sleep quality and stress mediate the association between optimism and mental health among college students.
A cross-sectional study was conducted using online surveys with students from health science majors at a public university in the northeast United States from September to December 2022. A total of 222 students participated in the study, providing data on sociodemographics, optimism, sleep quality, stress, anxiety, and depression. Parallel and serial mediation models were utilized to examine the potential mediating roles of sleep quality and stress in the association between optimism and mental health.
The study found that optimism influences anxiety and depression through both direct and indirect pathways. In line with predictions, the parallel mediation analysis revealed that the impact of optimism on anxiety (β = -0.598, 95% confident interval [CI]: -0.778 to -0.392) and depression (β = -0.724, 95% CI: -0.919 to -0.519) was mediated by stress and sleep quality. Furthermore, the serial mediation models revealed that stress and sleep quality co-mediated the relationship betweenoptimism and anxiety (indirect effect [IE] = -0.074, 95% CI: -0.135 to -0.029) or depression (IE = -0.084, 95% CI: -0.142 to -0.036) in a sequential manner.
Optimism was negatively correlated with poor sleep quality, stress, anxiety, and depression. Enhanced optimism was linked to high sleep quality and less stress, anxiety, and depression. These insights emphasize the potential for school-based optimism interventions to improve sleep quality, ameliorate stress-related concerns, and alleviate mental health challenges in college students.
大学生中压力、焦虑和抑郁的患病率较高，医学和护理专业学生面临的心理健康挑战尤为严重。乐观主义通过促进健康的生活方式和认知反应，对整体幸福感有显著影响。然而，乐观主义与大学生睡眠质量、压力和心理健康之间的关联尚未得到探索。本研究旨在：（1）探讨乐观主义与睡眠质量、压力和心理健康之间的关联；（2）确定睡眠质量和压力是否介导大学生中乐观主义与心理健康之间的关联。
于2022年9月至12月对美国东北部一所公立大学健康科学专业的学生进行在线调查，开展一项横断面研究。共有222名学生参与研究，提供了关于社会人口统计学、乐观主义、睡眠质量、压力、焦虑和抑郁的数据。采用平行中介模型和序列中介模型，检验睡眠质量和压力在乐观主义与心理健康关联中的潜在中介作用。
研究发现，乐观主义通过直接和间接途径影响焦虑和抑郁。与预测一致，平行中介分析显示，乐观主义对焦虑（β = -0.598，95%置信区间[CI]：-0.778至-0.392）和抑郁（β = -0.724，95% CI：-0.919至-0.519）的影响由压力和睡眠质量介导。此外，序列中介模型显示，压力和睡眠质量依次共同介导乐观主义与焦虑（间接效应[IE] = -0.074，95% CI：-0.135至-0.029）或抑郁（IE = -0.084，95% CI：-0.142至-0.036）之间的关系。
乐观主义与睡眠质量差、压力、焦虑和抑郁呈负相关。增强乐观主义与高睡眠质量以及较少的压力、焦虑和抑郁相关。这些见解强调了基于学校的乐观主义干预措施在改善大学生睡眠质量、缓解与压力相关的问题以及减轻心理健康挑战方面的潜力。
