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Career adaptability and career insecurity in the association between university career support and mental wellbeing among Chinese undergraduates

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: University students approaching graduation must manage academic demands while forming career plans under uncertain employment conditions, yet the psychological relevance of university career support remains incompletely understood. This cross-sectional study examined whether perceived university career support was associated with mental well-being through career adaptability and whether this indirect association varied with career insecurity. The analytic sample included 800 third- and fourth-year undergraduates from five public universities in Zhejiang Province, China. Covariate-adjusted HC3 regressions showed that career support was positively associated with career adaptability (b = 0.366, p < 0.001), career adaptability was positively associated with well-being (b = 8.431, p < 0.001), and career insecurity was negatively associated with well-being (b = −4.307, p < 0.001). The adaptability-by-insecurity interaction was significant under individual-level HC3 inference (b = 1.839, p = 0.038), and the moderated-mediation index was 0.673 (95% bootstrap CI 0.043–1.319). However, a Webb-weight wild cluster bootstrap at the university level did not confirm the interaction ( p = 0.195), and a leave-one-university-out jackknife interval for the moderated-mediation index included zero. The main associations were evident in the covariate-adjusted models, whereas the moderation findings should be considered exploratory.

Source: Scientific Reports

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-026-76842-w

Author: Zhengyang Fang

Institution: Ningbo University of Finance & Economics

Language: English

Topic: Career Development and Diversity

Subfield: Applied Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Good health and well-being, Decent work and economic growth

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,690