[Effects of Personality and Psychological Acceptance on Medical Workers' Occupational Stress]

Influence of Workload, Personality, and Psychological Flexibility on Occupational Stress Among Medical Staff: A Fuzzy-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis

Objective

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the occupational stress of medical staff has been a major issue. This study aimed to suggest a new strategy to identify high-risk factor sets of occupational stress in medical staff using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fs-QCA) and provide ideas for the prevention and intervention of occupational stress.

Methods

A total of 1,928 medical staff members were surveyed and tested using the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II), Occupational Stress Inventory-Revised edition (OSI-R), and Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised Short Scale (EPQ-RSC). The fs-QCA was used to explore the high-risk factors for occupational stress among medical staff.

Results

The psychological strain (PSY) score of the medical staff was 26.8 ± 7.13, and the physical strain (PHS) score was 24.3 ± 6.50. Low psychological flexibility score-introversion-high role overload, introversion-neuroticism-high role overload, and low psychological flexibility score-neuroticism were high-risk factor sets for PSY. Low psychological flexibility score-introversion-high role overload, low psychological flexibility score-introversion-neuroticism, low psychological flexibility score-neuroticism-high role overload, low psychological flexibility score-psychoticism-neuroticism, and psychoticism-neuroticism-high role overload were high-risk factor sets for PHS.

Conclusion

There are different combinations of high-risk factors for occupational stress among the medical staff. For occupational stress intervention and psychological counseling, targeted and individualized health intervention measures should be implemented according to specific characteristic combinations of different individuals.

Assessment and Discussion of Correlation Among Psychological Symptoms, Occupational Strain, and Neurotic Personality for Metro Drive

Metro driver is the prime person who is responsible for metro operation safety. The mental health of a metro driver is very important for the operation of the subway and requires the driver to keep high mental alertness to monitor the surrounding environment and also handle emergencies under uncertain or dangerous conditions. After a long-term occupational strain, a metro driver is likely to suffer from some mental health problems, such as anxiety and depression, that ultimately threaten the lives of passengers. Therefore, in this study, we focus on the psychological symptoms of metro drivers from the angle of occupational strain and neuroticism. A total of 396 metro drivers from Kunming Rail Transit Operation Co., Ltd. in China were investigated through a questionnaire survey. Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90), Personal Strain Questionnaire (PSQ), and NEO-Five-Factor Inventory-Neuroticism Subscale (NEO-FFI-N) were applied to evaluate the psychological symptoms, occupational strain, and neuroticism in metro drivers, respectively. The surveyed data were analyzed by SPSS software. Based on the data, a path structural equation model was established to explore the correlation among occupational strain, psychological symptoms, and neuroticism. The results show that the scores for psychological symptoms and occupational strain are higher than the Chinese adult norm among metro drivers. The occupational strain, neuroticism, and psychological symptoms are all positively correlated in the metro drivers. Occupational stress has a direct influence on the psychological symptom, while neuroticism plays a partial mediation role between occupational strain and psychological symptoms. The results of this study can be applied to optimize the employee selection system and training system for metro operation companies.