Neuroticism and work-related stress in a sample of health care workers

Cross-sectional data were collected from 174 Scottish health care workers o n a wide range of factors including neuroticism, sources of occupational st ress, and outcome (GHQ-28 and job dissatisfaction). In the first analysis, neuroticism was partialled out of the stressor-outcome relationships. In th e second, a range of variables, each residualised for neuroticism, was regr essed onto both outcome variables. In both cases, sources of stress were sh own to relate to outcome irrespective of neuroticism. In particular, those who experienced more pressure of work experienced more symptoms of distress , irrespective not only of neuroticism but also of age, social support at w ork, ways of coping with work-related problems, job satisfaction and social desirability. The results were discussed mainly in relation to methodologi cal issues. It was concluded that the potentially contaminating effects of neuroticism can be controlled to some extent in a cross-sectional study.