The Mediating Role of Sleep Problems in the Relationship between Economic Hardship and Quality of Life: A Short-Term Longitudinal Study

Background: We examined the mediating effect of sleep problems on the relationship between economic hardship (i.e., economic stress and subjective socioeconomic status) and quality of life (QOL).Methods: We analyzed data from 232 students who completed all three self-report surveys over the course of the semester, employing a simple mediation model examined by the SPSS PROCESS Macro.Results: The findings revealed that higher levels of economic stress at Time 1 (T1) were associated with higher levels of sleep problems at T2 which, in turn, were associated with a poorer QOL at T3. In contrast, subjective socioeconomic status at T1 was not associated with sleep problems at either T2 or QOL at T3.Conclusions: The current results suggest that improving sleep problems may be effective in mitigating the negative impact of economic stress on QOL among university students.