ArticleFrontiers in psychology2026
The association between perceived stress and career adaptability: the mediating role of meaning in life and the moderating role of future work self salience.
Article in Frontiers in psychology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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Abstract
Introduction: Career adaptability is an important psychosocial resource that helps college students prepare for academic demands, employment uncertainty, and the transition from university to work. However, less is known about how perceived stress is associated with career adaptability in the context of the university-to-work transition. Guided by Conservation of Resources theory, this study examined whether meaning in life statistically accounts for part of the association between perceived stress and career adaptability, and whether future work self salience moderates the association between perceived stress and meaning in life. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 1,893 students from three universities in Shaanxi, Sichuan, and Qinghai completed self-report measures of perceived stress, meaning in life, future work self salience, and career adaptability. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations, and regression-based moderated mediation analyses were conducted. Results: Perceived stress was negatively associated with career adaptability. Meaning in life statistically accounted for part of this association, with higher perceived stress associated with lower meaning in life and lower meaning in life associated with lower career adaptability in the tested model. Future work self salience moderated the association between perceived stress and meaning in life. Specifically, the negative association between perceived stress and meaning in life was weaker among students with higher future work self salience. The conditional indirect association between perceived stress and career adaptability through meaning in life was smaller in absolute magnitude at higher levels of future work self salience. Discussion: The findings in a three-university sample suggest a moderated mediation pattern in which meaning in life statistically accounts for part of the association between perceived stress and career adaptability, and future work self salience moderates the association between perceived stress and meaning in life.
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