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Original research
Work-family conflict and job burn-out among Chinese doctors: the mediating role of coping styles
  1. Ling Chen1,
  2. Junjun Liu2,
  3. Hailong Yang3,
  4. Hui Ma4,
  5. Hui Wang5,
  6. Yun Huang6,
  7. Hao Cheng7,
  8. Dianzhen Tang8,
  9. Miao Liu9,
  10. Houyuan Luo10,
  11. Haitao Qu11,
  12. Diwen Shen2 and
  13. Ning Zhang4
  1. 1 Department of Clinical Psychology, Jiangsu Province Geriatric Institute, Nanjing, China
  2. 2 Department of Psychiatry, Nanjing Meishan Hospital, Nanjing, China
  3. 3 Department of Clinical Psychology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital Clinical College of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
  4. 4 Department of Clinical Psychology, Nanjing Brain Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
  5. 5 Department of Neurology Lianyungang Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Lianyungang, China
  6. 6 Medical Insurance Audit Department, Medical Insurance Management and Service Bureau, Hangzhou, China
  7. 7 Educational and Counseling Department of Mental Health, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing, China
  8. 8 Customer Service Department, Tuniu Corporation, Nanjing, China
  9. 9 College of Education, Weifang University of Science and Technology, Huaifang, China
  10. 10 Department of Educational Psychology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
  11. 11 Institute of Health Management, Jiangsu Jiankang Vocational College, Nanjing, China
  1. Correspondence to Ning Zhang, Department of Clinical Psychology, Nanjing Brain Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China; hubbub_kennel{at}163.com

Abstract

Background Burn-out among doctors threatens their own health, and that of their patients. To identify risk factors of the doctor burn-out is vital to improving their health and increasing the quality of healthcare services. This study aims to explore the relationship between work-family conflict (WFC) and burn-out among Chinese doctors and the mediating role of coping styles in this relationship.

Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted in China, with a questionnaire packet which consisted of the Chinese Maslach Burnout Inventory (CMBI), WFC Scale and the Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire (SCSQ). A total of 2530 doctors participated in the survey. Correlation analysis was performed to explore the relationship between CMBI, WFC and SCSQ scores. A linear regression model was set to determine the mediating role of coping styles on the relationship between WFC and burn-out.

Results Doctors who had higher scores on work interfering with family conflict, reported more emotional exhaustion (r=0.514, P<0.001) and had a sense of accomplishment (r=−0.149, P<0.001). Simultaneously, family interfering with work (FIW) was positively associated with all dimensions of burn-out (r=0.213, 0.504, 0.088, respectively, P<0.001). Coping styles had partial, complete and even mediating effects on the relationship between WFC and burn-out among Chinese doctors.

Conclusions WFC was correlated with burn-out, and coping style was a mediator in this relationship among Chinese doctors. Coping style was a positive resource against burn-out.

  • burnout
  • work-family conflict
  • coping style
  • Chinese maslach burnout inventory
  • Chinese doctors

This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

https://doi.org/10.1136/gpsych-2018-000004

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    Footnotes

    • LC, JL and HY contributed equally.

    • Contributors Conceived and designed this study: NZ, HW, HM, ML. Literature search and data collection: HC, HQ, DT, ML, YH. Data analysis: JL, HL. Drafting of the paper: LC, HY.

    • Funding The research special fund for public welfare industry of health grant (200802150) (JSYRKJ2010-C1-001; Jiangsu Provincial Medical Humanities and Social Science committee (No:JSYRKJ2010-C1-001); Philosophy and Social Science Special Project in Nanjing Medical University (No: 2013NJZS40); Key Project supported by Medical Science and Technology Development Foundation，Nanjing Department of Health (No. YKK17246, YKK16241).

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient consent Obtained.

    • Ethics approval Ethical approval for this study was given by the medical ethics committee of Nanjing Brain Hospital affiliated to Nanjing Medical University.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.