Impact of Sleep Quality on the Quality of Life of Medical Students: A Study on the Mediating Role of Depression

Abstract

: To examine the relationships among sleep quality, depression, and quality of life (physical and mental health) in medical students, and to explore the mediating role of depression, a cross-sectional survey of 857 medical students was conducted using the SF-36, PSQI, and CES-D. Correlation and mediation analyses (PROCESS v4.1) were performed. Sleep quality was negatively correlated with physical health (r = -0.233) and mental health (r = -0.432); depression was negatively correlated with physical health (r = -0.134) and mental health (r = -0.554); sleep quality was positively correlated with depression (r = 0.485) (P < 0.01). Depression partially mediated the relationship between sleep quality and mental health (B = -0.656, 95% CI: -0.778 to -0.538), with an indirect effect accounting for 51.5% of the total effect. Good sleep quality benefits both physical and mental health. Depression partially mediated the effect of sleep quality on mental health.