A quantitative study to explore the relationship between work-related stress and depressive symptoms in a psychiatric hospital

Work-related stress and depressive symptoms in the workplace can have devastating effects on productivity, morale, and overall well-being of employees. Numerous studies have identified the crippling effect this has on organizations as a whole. Although the literature has a breadth of studies done on both work-related stressors and depressive symptoms independently, there has been limited research on the relationship between these two variables. This study utilized a correlational one-shot design to examine the relationship of work-related stressors and depressive symptoms among administrative staff working in a psychiatric hospital. Additionally, this study examined whether an increase in work-related stressors would impact the degree of depressive symptoms experienced by the employees. The present study used two self-report surveys to measure the two variables. Findings from the study showed a negative relationship between work-related stress and depressive symptoms and found that as there was an increase in the level of work-related stress, there was an increase in the level of depressive symptoms experienced by employees. Work-related stress was considered to be predictive of depressive symptoms from the findings of this study. The study replicated the results of previous studies and served to strengthen the notion of the significance of this relationship.