Survey study, 2018
Does job-seeking stress make period symptoms worse, and does how you cope matter?
Job-seeking stress is linked to worse period symptoms in college students with non-health majors, but only when they use passive coping styles like avoidance. Students who actively manage stress do not experience this effect.
What they did
Researchers surveyed 189 female college students (juniors and seniors) from both health and non-health majors about job-seeking stress, period symptoms, and how they cope with stress. They used statistical analysis to see how these factors relate to each other.
What they found
Job-seeking stress was linked to worse period symptoms only in students with non-health majors. For these students, using passive coping styles (avoiding the problem or giving up) completely explained why stress made symptoms worse. Students in health majors did not show this same pattern, suggesting they may have better coping strategies. The link between stress and coping style was statistically significant.
What it means for you
For college students dealing with job stress, how you cope affects your period symptoms. Passive coping like avoidance may worsen symptoms, while active strategies may help. Health major students showed better outcomes, possibly from better coping skills. The main limit is that this was a college student survey, so findings may not apply to older women or other populations.
189
female students surveyed
2
academic groups compared
About the study
- Original title
- Influence of Job-seeking Stress on Perimenstrual Symptoms of Female College Students in Health and Non-health related Majors: Mediating Effects of Stress Coping Styles
- Authors
- Moon SH, Park MK
- Journal
- Korean journal of women health nursing
- Year
- 2018
- Study design
- Survey study
- Participants
- 189
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.4069/kjwhn.2018.24.3.243
Original abstract
Purpose: To determine effects of job-seeking stress on perimenstrual symptoms of female college students with health and non-health related majors and mediating effects of stress coping styles. Methods: Data were collected from 189 female college students who were juniors or seniors. This study was conducted using questionnaires on job-seeking stress, perimenstrual symptoms, and stress coping styles. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis using SPSS, version 23.0. Mediation analysis was performed according to the Baron and Kenny method and Sobel test. Results: Job-seeking stress was significantly and positively correlated with perimenstrual symptoms in non-health college students. Passive stress coping styles demonstrated a complete mediating effect on the relationship between job-seeking stress and perimenstrual symptoms of those with non-health related majors (β=0.31, p=.002). Such effect was significant (Sobel test; Z=2.06, p=.039). Conclusion: Effects of job-seeking stress on perimenstrual symptoms were mediated by passive stress coping styles of non-health related major students. Based on findings of this study, effective stress cope strategies should be developed considering characteristics of majors to manage perimenstrual symptoms of female college students with high job-seeking stress.
Reproduced under CC-BY.
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