Impact of work environment characteristics on work‐related stress and depression in emergency medicine residents: A longitudinal study

Abstract

This study examined the effect of work environment characteristics on work-related stress and depression in emergency medicine residents. Data were collected from three cohorts of emergency medicine residents between 1989 and 1991 and followed to 1992. There were 556 first year, 369 second year and 192 third year medical residents in this ongoing study. Each year, residents were administered mail surveys including the Work-Related Strain Inventory, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale and scales assessing task-role clarity and work group support. Regression analyses indicated that work-related stress and first year depression were significant predictors of depression in the second residency year (rz = 0.32). In the third residency year, women and those with high work-related stress had more depression (2 = 0.38). Results also showed that residents with low task-role clarity were most likely to report depression, even when work group support was strong. These findings suggest that task and role conflict and work-related stress contribute to symptoms of depression in emergency medicine residents.

Organizational Characteristics, Perceived Work Stress, and Depression in Emergency Medicine Residents

“…2 ,4,13,28-32 Role ambiguity was associated with higher levels of workrelated stress and depression in previous structural equation models for hospital nurses" and rural emergency medical technlclans." Revicki et al 2 found that the availability of strong and cohesive work groups in emergency departments could not significantly reduce the negative effects of role ambiguity on depression.…”

Predicting Teacher Anxiety, Depression, and Job Satisfaction

“…New curriculum and the implementation of new initiatives may add to a feeling of work overload. Many teachers may have difficulty defining their role and this may lead to stress, as was found by Revicki et al (1993) in their work with emergency medicine residents and stress. For teachers, workload may be difficult to manage without definitive boundaries and a feeling of there always being work to do.…”

“…Although teachers may have little or no control over workload, student behaviour, and working conditions, social supports may ease distress (Chan, 2002;Mirowsky & Ross, 2003;Revicki et al, 1993). Administrative support and awareness is essential in helping teachers manage workload as well as student behaviour concerns.…”

“…Baba, Galperin, and Lituchy (1999), for example, found that burnout is a predictor of depression among nurses in the Caribbean. Revicki, Gallery, Whitley, and Allison(1993) found that work-related stress is a significant predictor of depression in second-year emergency medicine residents. There appears, however, to be little research published about stress factors that may predict anxiety.…”

Relationship of Psychological Morbidity and Quality of Life in Professional Females

“…For instance, in junior doctors 10 low autonomy predicted psychological morbidity, while work demands were most predictive in older doctors. In relation to medical specialities for instance, work-related stress and specifically, 'low task-role clarity' predicted later depression in emergency medicine residents, 11 while in general practitioners (GPs), 12 routine work administration, job demands, interference with family and interruptions with work, predicted their negative mental well being. Health care workers generally have psychological morbidity rates higher than the general population; in a large National Health Scheme (NHS) sample in the UK, the relative risk of disorder was 1.5 and was most marked in direct care staff and women in particular.…”