Employment Anxiety, Sleep Quality, Depression, and Stress Among University Students: Influencing Factors on Stress

This study aimed to analyze the impact of employment anxiety on sleep quality, depression, and stress among university students.One hundred sixty-four students from two universities in Daejeon and the Chungcheong region participated in the research using a descriptive survey method.The research instruments included measures of general characteristics, employment-related characteristics, employment anxiety, sleep quality, depression, and stress.Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics (SPSS) version 25.0, employing t-tests, ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficients, and multiple linear regression analysis.The results indicated a negative correlation between employment anxiety and sleep quality (r=-0.190,p=.017).Employment anxiety was positively correlated with both depression (r=-0.278,p<.001) and stress (r=-0.379,p<.001).Furthermore, sleep quality showed negative correlations with depression (r=-0.660,p<.001) and stress (r=-0.745,p<.001).A positive correlation was found between depression and stress (r=-0.786,p<.001).Notably, depression had the most significant impact on stress, followed by sleep quality and employment anxiety.The degree of adjustment to the academic department had the least influence among the variables.The overall explanatory power of the model was approximately 50.1% (adjusted R=.501).In conclusion, universities should implement programs and counseling aimed at managing depression and sleep, as these are the primary factors influencing stress.Additionally, educational programs incorporating various job experiences and mentoring should be included in the curriculum to alleviate students' employment anxiety.