The Relationship Between Work Stress And Depressive Symptoms Of Family Doctors In Tai’an

BackgroundWith the rapid economic and social development and the acceleration of the pace of life,mental health problems are becoming more and more common.Numerous studies have shown that depressive symptoms have become an important risk factor for physical and mental health.Family doctor contracting service is one of the important tasks to deepen the reform of the medical and health system and promote the implementation of the strategic requirements of Healthy China.As direct providers of medical services and "gatekeepers" of residents’ health,family doctors are not only closely related to their personal and family health,but also closely related to the health of the people.The introduction of family doctor contracting services increases the workload of family doctors,making them more vulnerable to work pressure,which in turn leads to a range of mental health problems.Therefore,this study is of great significance to explore the current status of depressive symptoms of family doctors and the relationship between work stress,burnout,and social support depressive symptoms.ObjectiveTaking family doctors in Tai’an City as the research object,we investigated the status quo of depression,work stress,and job burnout among family doctors,and explored the influencing factors of job burnout and depressive symptoms;To explore the relationship among work stress,depressive symptoms,job burnout and social support in family doctors.To examine the mediating and moderating effects of job burnout and social support on the relationship between work stress and depression.To provide a reference for the government and society to formulate and carry out depression prevention and intervention measures for family doctors,so as to reduce the occurrence of depression and adverse outcomes.MethodsMulti-stage cluster random sampling was used to select 751 family doctors from six counties of Tai’an city.A self-administered questionnaire was used to conduct on-site survey.Self-made general information questionnaire,Patient Health Questionnaire Depression Scale,Challenging and Obstructive Stressors Scale,Maslach Burnout Inventory and Perceived Social Support Scale were used to investigate the general situation,depression,work stress,job burnout and social support of family doctors.SPSS 25.0 was used for statistical description,univariate analysis,multivariate analysis,correlation analysis,mediating and moderating effect tests.ResultsThe average scores of work stress,depressive symptoms,job burnout and social support of family doctors in Tai’an were 35.49±7.771,5.33±4.744,31.12±16.827 and 66.90±10.147.The results of regression analysis showed that the highest education level,self-rated health status,satisfaction with working environment and self-rated resident recognition were the influencing factors of depressive symptoms(P<0.001).Self-rated social status,self-rated health status,satisfaction with working environment,equivalence between income and workload,and self-rated resident recognition were the influencing factors of job burnout(P<0.001).Pearson correlation analysis showed that there was a significant positive correlation between work stress,job burnout,and depressive symptoms(P<0.05),and there was a significant negative correlation between social support and work stress,job burnout,and depressive symptoms(P<0.05).The results of mediating effect test showed that the total effect size of work stress on depressive symptoms was 0.200,the direct effect size was 0.103,and the effect accounted for 51.50%.The indirect effect size of work stress on depressive symptoms through job burnout was 0.097,accounting for 48.50%of the total effect size.The 95%confidence interval of each path did not include 0.This indicates a significant effect.Moderating effect test results showed that social support moderated the direct path between work stress and depressive symptoms(95%CI=[-0.119,-0.023]).Conclusions and suggestionsThis study found that the work stress of family doctors in Tai’an is at a medium level,and the depressive symptoms and job burnout are at a lower medium level.There is a significant correlation between work stress,job burnout,social support and depressive symptoms in family doctors.This study verified the mediating and moderating effects of job burnout and social support on the relationship between work stress and depressive symptoms in family physicians.In order to prevent and reduce the depressive symptoms of family doctors and improve their mental health,the following suggestions are proposed:(1)reduce work pressure and pay attention to mental health;(2)improve job satisfaction and reduce the risk of job burnout;(3)strengthen the construction of social network and comprehensively improve the level of social support.