The Mediating Role of Cumulative Fatigue on the Association between Occupational Stress and Depressive Symptoms: A Cross-Sectional Study among 1327 Chinese Primary Healthcare Professionals

Yushi Lu, Zhi Li, Yuting Fan, Jin Wang, Tian Zhong, Ling Wang, Ying Xiao, Dongmei Zhang (), Qingsong Chen () and Xi Yu ()
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Yushi Lu: Faculty of Medicine, Macau University of Science and Technology, Avenida Wai Long Taipa, Macau 999078, China
Zhi Li: Faculty of Medicine, Macau University of Science and Technology, Avenida Wai Long Taipa, Macau 999078, China
Yuting Fan: School of Public Health, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510310, China
Jin Wang: National Institute of Occupational Health and Poison Control, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100050, China
Tian Zhong: Faculty of Medicine, Macau University of Science and Technology, Avenida Wai Long Taipa, Macau 999078, China
Ling Wang: Faculty of Medicine, Macau University of Science and Technology, Avenida Wai Long Taipa, Macau 999078, China
Ying Xiao: Faculty of Medicine, Macau University of Science and Technology, Avenida Wai Long Taipa, Macau 999078, China
Dongmei Zhang: School of Public Health, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510310, China
Qingsong Chen: School of Public Health, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510310, China
Xi Yu: Faculty of Medicine, Macau University of Science and Technology, Avenida Wai Long Taipa, Macau 999078, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 23, 1-15

Abstract: Occupational stress and depressive symptoms are common among professionals in the primary healthcare system, and the former can lead to a more severe level of the latter. However, there are few studies on the mediating effect of occupational stress on depressive symptoms using cumulative fatigue as a mediating variable. The Core Occupational Stress Scale, the Self Diagnosis Scale of Workers’ Cumulative Fatigue, and the Patient Health Questionnaire were used in the proposed study. To analyze and test the mediating effect, the hierarchical regression analysis method and the Bootstrap method were applied. Our results showed that occupational stress was positively correlated with the level of cumulative fatigue ( p < 0.01) and depressive symptoms ( p < 0.01). Cumulative fatigue played a partial, mediating role between the four dimensions of occupational stress and depressive symptoms, and the effect size of occupational stress and each dimension was 0.116 (95% CI: 0.096–0.135, p < 0.001), −0.204 (95% CI: −0.245–−0.166, p < 0.001), 0.179 (95% CI: 0.143–0.218, p < 0.001), 0.333 (95% CI: 0.283–0.385, p < 0.001), and −0.210 (95% CI: −0.292–−0.132, p < 0.001), respectively, while the percentages of the mediating effects were 43.56%, 44.46%, 48.58%, 71.26%, and 45.80%, respectively. Occupational stress can directly or indirectly affect depressive symptoms through the mediating effect of cumulative fatigue. Therefore, primary healthcare professionals can reduce occupational stress, which in turn relieves depressive symptoms, and thus reduce cumulative fatigue levels.

Keywords: occupational stress; depressive symptom; cumulative fatigue; mediating effect; primary healthcare (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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