OCCUPATIONAL STRESS, LIFE STRESS AND MENTAL-HEALTH AMONG DENTISTS

This study examined the prediction of occupational stress, general lif e stress and mental health among 108 randomly sampled dentists who com pleted mail-survey questionnaires at two points in time. In multiple r egression analyses, the outcome variables were the dentists' self-repo rted general life stress, dental practice-related stress and mental he alth. Predictors were locus of control, non-verbal expressiveness, age , gender, income, hours worked per year, social desirability response set, and baseline measures of occupational stress and satisfaction wit h 10 aspects of dental practice: staff; income; professional relations ; professional time; delivery of care; patient relations; practice man agement; personal time; professional environment; and respect received as a dentist. Both dental practice-related stress and general life st ress were predicted by baseline occupational stress, by feelings of la ck of respect for practicing dentistry, and by dissatisfaction with th e amount of professional time available to improve clinical skills. Po orer mental health was predicted by baseline occupational stress, by p erceived lack of respect for practicing dentistry, and by feelings of having too little personal time.