ArticleBMC public health2026
Supervisor-student relationship and anxiety among graduate students: a moderated mediation model.
Article in BMC public health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- From positive psychology to practical empowerment: theoretical construction and pathway innovation in graduate student mental health education.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Pooled it
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5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe psychological crises associated with poor supervisor-student relationship among graduate students have raised growing public concerns. In the Chinese graduate education context, supervisors play a central and highly influential role in students' academic development, which makes the supervisor-student relationship particularly critical for their psychological well-being. This study examined the association between supervisor-student relationship and anxiety, the mediating role of general self-efficacy, and the moderating role of attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help among Chinese graduate students.
methodsA total of 1233 Chinese graduate students (36.6% female; M
resultsSupervisor-student relationship was significantly negatively associated with anxiety (β = -0.364, p < 0.001), and mediation analyses indicated that general self-efficacy partially mediated this association (indirect effect = - 0.152, 95% CI = [- 0.192, - 0.115]). Moderated mediation analysis further revealed that attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help buffered the adverse effects of supervisor-student relationship on anxiety (β = 0.106, p < 0.001), as well as the correlation between supervisor-student relationship and general self-efficacy (β = -0.119, p < 0.001).
conclusionsThis study demonstrates that the quality of the supervisor-student relationship is closely associated with graduate students' anxiety and that this link operates partly through general self-efficacy. Positive attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help weakened the association between poor supervisor-student relationship and anxiety and mitigated the decline in general self-efficacy. These findings clarify how interpersonal and psychological factors jointly shape anxiety and suggest that strengthening supportive supervisor-student relationship and fostering favorable attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help may be beneficial for safeguarding the mental health of graduate students.
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