The moderating effects of education level on mental health among young individuals
Main Article Content
Abstract
This study investigates the relationship between mental health disorders and workplace productivity, specifically examining the effects of anxiety, depression, post-traumatic behavior (PT), and stress behaviors. This study also explores how education level moderates these relationships. Data were collected from 161 participants through an online questionnaire, using convenience sampling. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) via SmartPLS was employed to analyze direct relationships and moderating effects. The results indicate that anxiety and depression significantly and negatively impact workplace productivity, while PT and stress behaviors show no significant effects. The study found that education level significantly moderates the relationship between mental health disorders and workplace productivity. These findings expand our understanding of how mental health impacts workplace performance across educational backgrounds. The research provides practical implications for organizations in developing targeted mental health interventions and support programs based on employees' academic levels.
Article Details

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
References
Afonso, P., Fonseca, M., & Teodoro, T. (2022). Evaluation of anxiety, depression and sleep quality in full-time teleworkers. Journal of Public Health, 44(4), 797–804.
Afthanorhan, A., Ghazali, P. L., & Rashid, N. (2021, May). Discriminant validity: A comparison of CBSEM and consistent PLS using Fornell & Larcker and HTMT approaches. In Journal of Physics: Conference Series (Vol. 1874, No. 1, p. 012085). IOP Publishing.
Almaamari, Q.A. (2023). Factors Influencing Employees Productivity in Bahraini Alhelli Company—Literature Review. In: Hamdan, A., Harraf, A., Buallay, A., Arora, P., Alsabatin, H. (eds) From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0. Studies in Systems, Decision and Control, vol 470. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28314-7_32
Arias, D., Saxena, S., & Verguet, S. (2022). Quantifying the global burden of mental disorders and their economic value. EClinicalMedicine, 54, 101675.
Attia, M., Ibrahim, F. A., Elsady, M. A. E., Khorkhash, M. K., Rizk, M. A., Shah, J., & Amer, S. A. (2022). Cognitive, emotional, physical, and behavioral stress-related symptoms and coping strategies among university students during the third wave of COVID-19 pandemic. Frontiers in psychiatry, 13, 933981.
Belvederi Murri, M., Garza, C. K., Grassi, L., & Muskin, P. R. (2024). Physical Signs and Symptoms. In Tasman, A., Riba, M. B., Alarcon, R. D., Alfonso, C. A., Kanba, S., Ndetei, D. M., Ng, C. H., Schulze, T. G., & Lecic-Tosevski, D. (Eds.). Tasmans Psychiatry (pp. 1225-1251). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
Brown, V. M., Price, R., & Dombrovski, A. Y. (2023). Anxiety as a disorder of uncertainty: Implications for understanding maladaptive anxiety, anxious avoidance, and exposure therapy. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 23(3), 844–868.
Bui, T., Zackula, R., Dugan, K., & Ablah, E. (2021). Workplace Stress and Productivity: A Cross-Sectional Study. Kansas Journal of Medicine, 14(1), 42–45.
Burger, K., & Strassmann Rocha, D. (2024). Mental health, gender, and higher education attainment. Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft, 27, 89–122
Davidson, J.R., Book, S.W., Colket, J.T., Tupler, L.A., Roth, S., David, D., Hertzberg, M., Mellman, T., Beckham, J.C., Smith, R.D. & Davison, R.M. (1997). Assessment of a new self-rating scale for post-traumatic stress disorder. Psychological medicine, 27(1), 153–160.
de Oliveira, C., Saka, M., Bone, L., & Jacobs, R. (2023). The role of mental health on workplace productivity: a critical literature review. Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, 21(2), 167–193.
Deady, M., Collins, D. A. J., Johnston, D. A., Glozier, N., Calvo, R. A., Christensen, H., & Harvey, S. B. (2022). The impact of depression, anxiety and comorbidity on occupational outcomes. Occupational Medicine, 72(1), 17–24.
Fusar Poli, P., Correll, C. U., Arango, C., Berk, M., Patel, V., & Ioannidis, J. P. (2021). Preventive psychiatry: a blueprint for improving the mental health of young people. World Psychiatry, 20(2), 200–221.
Habib, M. & Laidey, N. M. (2021). Measuring the relationship between generalised anxiety disorder and job performance. Electronic Journal of Business and Management, 6(2), 65–82.
Hair, J. F., Risher, J. J., Sarstedt, M. & Ringle, C. M. (2019). When to use and how to report the results of PLS-SEM. European Business Review, 31(1), 2–24.
Hair, J. F., Astrachan, C. B., Moisescu, O. I., Radomir, L., Sarstedt, M., Vaithilingam, S., & Ringle, C. M. (2021). Executing and interpreting applications of PLS-SEM: Updates for family business researchers. Journal of Family Business Strategy, 12(3), 100392.
Halkos, G., & Bousinakis, D. (2010). The effect of stress and satisfaction on productivity. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 59(5), 415-431.
Hysenbegasi, A., Hass, S. L., & Rowland, C. R. (2005). The impact of depression on the academic productivity of university students. Journal of mental health policy and economics, 8(3), 145.
James, K. A., Stromin, J. I., Steenkamp, N., & Combrinck, M. I. (2023). Understanding the relationships between physiological and psychosocial stress, cortisol and cognition. Frontiers in Endocrinology, 14, 1085950.
Jane Osareme, O., Muonde, M., Maduka, C. P., Olorunsogo, T. O., & Omotayo, O. (2024). Demographic shifts and healthcare: A review of aging populations and systemic challenges. International Journal of Science and Research Archive, 11, 383–395.
Karsen, E.F., Watts, B.V. & Holtzheimer, P.E. (2014). Review of the effectiveness of transcranial magnetic stimulation for post-traumatic stress disorder. Brain Stimulation, 7(2), 151–157.
Kensbock, J. M., Alkærsig, L., & Lomberg, C. (2022). The epidemic of mental disorders in business—how depression, anxiety, and stress spread across organisations through employee mobility. Administrative Science Quarterly, 67(1), 1–48.
Kondirolli, F., & Sunder, N. (2022). Mental health effects of education. Health Economics, 31(S2), 22–39.
Krishnamurthy, S. (2025). Youth Social Anxiety and Phobia. Educohack Press.
Kupcova, I., Danisovic, L., Klein, M., & Harsanyi, S. (2023). Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health, anxiety, and depression. BMC Psychology, 11(1), 108.
Law, K. L. S., & Tiah, B. J. W. (2022). The perception of mental health issues that affect workplace productivity in Klang Valley, Malaysia. International Business Education Journal, 15(1), 30–43.
Law, K., & Kue, W. X. (2020). The anticipation of working experiences among students from private institutes in Klang Valley: A qualitative perspective. International Business Education Journal, 13(1), 60–70.
Lee, K.S., Joo, S.Y., Seo, C.H., Park, J.E. & Lee, B.C. (2019). Work-related burn injuries and claims for post-traumatic stress disorder in Korea. Burns, 45(2), 461–465.
Muschalla, B., Linden, M. & Olbrich, D. (2010). The relationship between job-anxiety and trait-anxiety—A differential diagnostic investigation with the Job-Anxiety-Scale and the State-Trait-Anxiety-Inventory. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 24(3), 366–371.
Noushad, S., Ahmed, S., Ansari, B., Mustafa, U. H., Saleem, Y., & Hazrat, H. (2021). Physiological biomarkers of chronic stress: A systematic review. International Journal of Health Sciences, 15(5), 46.
Nowrouzi-Kia, B., Sithamparanathan, G., Nadesar, N., Gohar, B., & Ott, M. (2022). Factors associated with healthcare workers work performance and mental health during pandemics: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Public Health, 44(4), 731–739.
Oginska-Bulik, N. (2005). Emotional intelligence in the workplace: exploring its effects on occupational stress and health outcomes in human service workers. International Journal of Occupational Medicine & Environmental Health, 18(2). 167-175.
Palamarchuk, I. S., & Vaillancourt, T. (2021). Mental resilience and coping with stress: A comprehensive, multi-level model of cognitive processing, decision making, and behaviour. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 15, 719674.
Patil, B.S. (2018). Augmenting Employee Productivity through Employee Engagement: Evidence from Indian Banks. Global Journal of Management and Business Research, 18(1), 45–53.
Rivaldo, Y., & Nabella, S. D. (2023). Employee Performance: Education, Training, Experience and Work Discipline. Calitatea, 24(193), 182–188.
Rugulies, R., Aust, B., Greiner, B. A., Arensman, E., Kawakami, N., LaMontagne, A. D., & Madsen, I. E. (2023). Work-related causes of mental health conditions and interventions for their improvement in workplaces. The Lancet, 402(10410), 1368–1381.
Sharma, M.S. & Sharma, M.V. (2014). Employee engagement to enhance productivity in current scenario. International Journal of Commerce, Business and Management, 3(4), 595–604.
Shiha, M. G., & Aziz, I. (2021). Physical and psychological comorbidities associated with irritable bowel syndrome. Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 54, S12–S23.
Shrestha, N. (2020). Detecting multicollinearity in regression analysis. American Journal of Applied Mathematics and Statistics, 8(2), 39–42.
Sitopu, Y. B., Sitinjak, K. A., & Marpaung, F. K. (2021). The influence of motivation, work discipline, and compensation on employee performance. Golden Ratio of Human Resource Management, 1(2), 72–83.
Sultan, S. A. A., & Sultan, L. A. A. (2025). The integral influence of mental health on employee well-being and organizational productivity in dubai government companies. Saudi Journal of Business and Management Studies 10(2), 75–84.
Timotius, E., & Octavius, G. S. (2022). Stress at the Workplace and Its Impacts on Productivity: A Systematic Review from Industrial Engineering, Management, and Medical Perspective. Industrial Engineering & Management Systems, 21(2), 192–205.
Walsh, D. A. B., & Foster, J. L. H. (2021). A call to action. A critical review of mental health related anti-stigma campaigns. Frontiers in Public Health, 8, 569539.
Wizner, K., Cunningham, K., Gaspar, F. W., Dewa, C. S., & Grunert, B. (2022). Occupational post-traumatic stress disorder and workplace violence in workers compensation claims. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 35(5), 1368–1380.
World Health Organization. (2023). Mental health of older adults. Retrieved March 4, 2025, from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-health-of-older-adults
Wu, A., Roemer, E. C., Kent, K. B., Ballard, D. W., & Goetzel, R. Z. (2021). Organizational best practices supporting mental health in the workplace. Journal of Occupational And Environmental Medicine, 63(12), e925–e931.
Zhang, I. Y., Powell, D. M., & Bonaccio, S. (2022). The role of fear of negative evaluation in interview anxiety and social evaluative workplace anxiety. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 30(2), 302–310.