Under pressure, thoughts remain unsettled: why uncertain work environments prevent employees from psychologically detaching after work

Purpose This study aims to examine the longitudinal relationships among job stress, job insecurity, perceived employability, and work-related rumination within uncertain work environments. It adopts variable-centered perspectives to reveal the structural characteristics and cross-temporal associations of the psychological system among young employees. Design/methodology/approach A 60-day two-wave longitudinal design was employed, with 573 employed young adults in China as the valid sample. Cross-lagged panel network analysis was used to construct a multivariate dynamic relational network. Findings The results suggest that task repetitiveness shows the strongest bridging capacity and information diffusion function, serving as a core node connecting different psychological subsystems. Job demands, job insecurity, and affective rumination jointly form the central structure of the system, whereas perceived employability and problem-solving rumination appear as relatively independent peripheral structures. Originality/value The findings further highlight the dynamic transmission mechanisms of key psychological nodes within contemporary occupational stress systems and the longitudinal relationships across different resource configurations. These results provide new evidence for understanding the psychological adaptation process of young employees in uncertain employment environments.