Job insecurity, which refers to the worry of losing one's job in the near future, has increased significantly, as has the increasing use of temporary contracts, including in academia, especially among young academics. Despite the growing number of temporary workers in Italian universities, there are few studies on the effects that job insecurity can have on mental well-being and occupational health in this group of workers. The aim of the study is to investigate the relationship between job insecurity and emotional exhaustion, taking into account the role of perseverative cognition, in particular affective rumination and problem-solving rumination, as well as sleep quality, within the framework conservation of resource theory. The study involved 9,764 temporary type A researchers employed at Italian universities between November 2024 and January 2025 who were asked to complete an online survey. A total of 1,696 respondents completed the questionnaire correctly. A structural equation model was created using MPLUS 8 software (CFI = .90 TLI = .89 RMSEA = .06 SRMR = .07). Results revealed different patterns of the mediating role of affective rumination and problem-solving rumination in the relationship between qualitative and quantitative job insecurity, sleep quality and emotional exhaustion. For example, although quantitative job insecurity is not directly associated with emotional exhaustion or sleep quality, it exerts a significant and positive influence on affective and problem-solving rumination, and in this case there are significant indirect effects for both types of rumination. In particular, it is observed that quantitative uncertainty poses a risk for increased emotional exhaustion precisely through the role of perseverative cognition.
Results offer reflections on the impact of job insecurity on the well-being and health of temporary academic staff.