Frontiers in Psychology (Nov 2022)

Relationship between psychological capital and depression in Chinese physicians: The mediating role of organizational commitment and coping style

  • Li Sun,
  • Yuan Zhang,
  • Jingyun He,
  • Kexin Qiao,
  • Ce Wang,
  • Shuai Zhao,
  • Jinxin Zhao,
  • Xiaohui Qiu,
  • Xiuxian Yang,
  • Jiawei Zhou,
  • Tianyi Bu,
  • Xiaomeng Hu,
  • Zhengxue Qiao,
  • Depin Cao,
  • Yanjie Yang

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.904447
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13

Abstract

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BackgroundIt is well known that the medical profession is a high-risk practice, with intense work and complex situations. The physicians are prone to suffer from depression due to occupational stress under high workloads for long periods of time. Depression not only impairs physicians’ mental health, but also affects the quality of health services, so it is important to explore the factors and mechanisms affecting depression among physicians.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, 1,139 physicians from Heilongjiang Province were surveyed by cluster sampling procedures. The questionnaires included Psychological Capital Questionnaire, Chinese Employee Organizational Commitment Questionnaire, Trait Coping Style Questionnaire and Self-rating Depression Scale. Pearson correlation analysis and Bootstrap were used for statistical analysis.ResultsThis study found that 41.6% of physicians suffering from depression. Among them, 17.0% of physicians showed moderate depression, and 2.6% of physicians exhibited severe depression. The serial-multiple mediation of organizational commitment and positive coping styles in the relationship between psychological capital and depression was significant.ConclusionThe results showed that the psychological capital was sequentially associated with increased organizational commitment, and then increased positive coping styles, which resulted in reduced depression among physicians.

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