Da. Revicki et al., IMPACT OF WORK-ENVIRONMENT CHARACTERISTICS ON WORK-RELATED STRESS ANDDEPRESSION IN EMERGENCY-MEDICINE RESIDENTS - A LONGITUDINAL-STUDY, Journal of community & applied social psychology, 3(4), 1993, pp. 273-284
This study examined the effect of work environment characteristics on
work-related stress and depression in emergency medicine residents. Da
ta were collected from three cohorts of emergency medicine residents b
etween 1989 and 1991 and followed to 1992. There were 556 first year,
369 second year and 192 third year medical residents in this ongoing s
tudy. Each year, residents were administered mail surveys including th
e Work-Related Strain Inventory, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depr
ession scale and scales assessing task-role clarity and work group sup
port. Regression analyses indicated that work-related stress and first
year depression were significant predictors of depression in the seco
nd residency year (r2 = 0.32). In the third residency year, women and
those with high work-related stress had more depression (r2 = 0.38). R
esults 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 s
tress contribute to symptoms of depression in emergency medicine resid
ents.