Understanding the Mediating Role of Anxiety and Depression on the Relationship Between Perceived Stress and Sleep Quality Among Health Care Workers in the COVID-19 Response

• Main Authors: Luo Y, Fei S, Gong B, Sun T, Meng R
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dove Medical Press 2021-10-01
• Series: Nature and Science of Sleep
• Subjects: health care workers; sleep quality; anxiety; depression; perceived stress; covid-19
• Online Access: https://www.dovepress.com/understanding-the-mediating-role-of-anxiety-and-depression-on-the-rela-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-NSS
• ISSN: 1179-1608

Yi Luo,1,&ast; Suding Fei,1,&ast; Boxiong Gong,2 Tongda Sun,3 Runtang Meng4 1School of Nursing, Ningbo College of Health Sciences, Ningbo, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Nursing, Taihe Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan, Hubei, People’s Republic of China; 3Research Institute of Health Service, Ningbo College of Health Sciences, Ningbo, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China; 4School of Public Health, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China&ast;These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Runtang MengSchool of Public Health, Hangzhou Normal University, No. 2318, Yuhangtang Road, Yuhang District, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 311121, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail [e-mail]: There is an increasing amount of evidence exploring the adverse effects of perceived stress or anxiety and depression independently on sleep quality during the COVID-19 outbreak, although the underlying mechanisms are unclear. The aim of the current study was to explore the role of anxiety and depression as a potential mediator between perceived stress and sleep quality among health care workers.Methods: Data were collected through an online survey using the snowball sampling method and comprised 588 current health care workers in Zhejiang and Hubei provinces, China, from February to March 2020. We administered the Sleep Quality Questionnaire (SQQ), the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-4) and the sociodemographic characteristics and COVID-19-related characteristics questionnaire. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to examine the direct and indirect relationships between perceived stress, anxiety and depression, and sleep quality.Results: The average scores for sleep quality and perceived stress were 16.01 (95% CI [15.40, 16.57]) and 15.46 (95% CI [15.05, 15.87]), respectively. The positive rates of anxiety and depression symptom tests were 9.86% and 10.37%, respectively. The SEM results indicated that the original relationship between perceived stress and sleep quality was beta = 0.52 (P < 0.001) and reduced to beta = 0.25 (P = 0.045) while introducing anxiety and depression as mediating variables. Perceived stress was positively associated with anxiety and depression (beta = 0.78, P = 0.014), and anxiety and depression were positively associated with sleep quality (beta = 0.42, P < 0.001).Conclusion: Poor sleep quality and high perceived stress were common during the COVID-19 crisis. Reducing perceived stress could help reduce anxiety and depression symptoms, thereby improving sleep quality among health care workers. In an attempt to promote psychological resources, we should perhaps take multiple measures, including personal tailored intervention and organizational humanistic concern.Keywords: health care workers, sleep quality, anxiety, depression, perceived stress, COVID-19