The Effects of Stressful Life Events and Negative Emotions in Relation to the Quality of Sleep: A Comparison between Chinese and Japanese Undergraduate Students and Chinese International Students

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of stressful life events (SLE) on the quality of sleep among university students. The subjects were 410 Chinese undergraduate students (CU), 201 Japanese undergraduate students (JU), and 111 Chinese international students living in Japan (CI). Four questionnaires were administered: (a) the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index; (b) the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21; (c) the Negative Life Events checklist; and (d) the Adolescent Self-Rating Life Events Checklist. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) indicated that the experience of SLE directly affects and decreases the quality of sleep, and also increases negative emotions thereby indirectly influencing sleep quality. The multiple-group SEM suggested that negative emotions elicited from SLE, influencing the quality of sleep, were higher for CU and CI than for JU. Thus, it could be suggested that measures to improve the quality of sleep need to be managed differently for Japanese and Chinese students.