What the study found
Sleep quality partially mediated the association between academic stress and psychological health among adolescents in county-level areas of Liaoning Province, China. Grade and gender also moderated parts of these associations.
Why the authors say this matters
The authors conclude that the findings suggest sleep quality is an important factor in the link between academic stress and psychological health, and that the study indicates this link varies by grade and gender.
What the researchers tested
The researchers studied 449 students in Grades 7-9 who completed validated measures of academic stress, sleep quality using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and psychological health. They used mediation and moderated mediation analyses with PROCESS (Model 4 and Model 22) and 5,000 bootstrap samples.
What worked and what didn't
Academic stress was positively associated with sleep problems and psychological health problems. Sleep quality also showed a strong association with psychological health, and it partially mediated the stress-health association. The stress-health link was stronger in Grades 8 and 9 than in Grade 7, and the sleep quality-psychological health relationship was stronger for females.
What to keep in mind
The abstract describes a sample from county-level areas of Liaoning Province, China, so the findings are limited to that setting in the available summary. Other limitations are not described in the abstract.
Key points
- Sleep quality partially mediated the link between academic stress and psychological health.
- Academic stress was positively associated with sleep problems and psychological health problems.
- The stress-health association was stronger in Grades 8 and 9 than in Grade 7.
- The sleep quality-psychological health relationship was stronger for females.
- The study included 449 students in Grades 7-9 from county-level areas of Liaoning Province, China.
Disclosure
- Research title:
- Sleep quality partly explains academic stress and psychological health
- Authors:
- Wenyan Zhang, Rui Wang, Jingmiao Zhang
- Institutions:
- Anshan Normal University, Beijing Normal University
- Publication date:
- 2026-02-25
- OpenAlex record:
- View
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