AUTHOR=Pan Zhenyu , Zhang Hanzhong , Xu Xinqing , Song Jingjing , Zhu Jinghua , Shao Jiangang , Li Yalei , Jia Liping 

TITLE=The relationship between coping styles and career adaptability in telecommunications employees: chain mediation of anxiety and general self-efficacy

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health

VOLUME=Volume 13 - 2025

YEAR=2025

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1664966

DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2025.1664966

ISSN=2296-2565

ABSTRACT=ObjectiveThe rapid growth of the digital economy demands higher professional competence and adaptability from telecommunications employees. Therefore, it is particularly important to explore the influencing mechanism of career adaptability of telecommunications employees.MethodsA survey was conducted among 9,475 employees of telecommunication companies in 16 cities in Shandong Province using the Simple Coping Style Scale, Depression-Anxiety-Stress Scale, General Self-Efficacy Scale and Career Adaptability Scale. The collected data were processed and analyzed using SPSS 26.0. Mediation analysis was conducted using Hayes’ PROCESS macro (Model 6) with bootstrapping.ResultsThe results of correlation analysis showed that there was a significant correlation between coping style, anxiety, general self-efficacy and career adaptability of telecommunications employees (p < 0.01). Anxiety and general self-efficacy were identified as mediating factors between coping style and career adaptability, accounting for 4.522 and 28.334% of the total effect, respectively. At the same time, anxiety and general self-efficacy played a chain mediating effect between coping style and career adaptability, accounting for 12.059% of the total effect.ConclusionThis study found that coping style may directly affect career adaptability, and may also affect general self-efficacy through anxiety level, which in turn affects career adaptability. The results emphasize the importance of coping skills, emotion management and self-cognition, which is of great significance for improving the mental health level and career development ability of telecommunications employees.