PERCEIVED SOURCES OF WORK STRESS AND SATISFACTION AMONG HOSPITAL AND COMMUNITY MENTAL-HEALTH STAFF, AND THEIR RELATION TO MENTAL-HEALTH, BURNOUT AND JOB-SATISFACTION

This questionnaire study examined perceived sources of stress and sati sfaction at work among 121 mental health staff members. Five factors w ere derived from principal component analysis of sources of work stres s items (stress from: role, poor support, clients, future, and overloa d), and accounted for 70% of the total variance. Four factors were der ived from the items related to sources of job satisfaction (satisfacti on from: career, working with people, management, and money), accounti ng for 68% of the variance. The associations of these factors with soc iodemographic and job characteristics were examined, and they were ent ered as explanatory variables into regression models predicting mental health, burnout, and job satisfaction. Stress from ''overload'' was a ssociated with being based outside an in-patient ward, and with emotio nal exhaustion and worse mental health. Stress related to the ''future '' was associated with not being white. Stress from ''clients'' was as sociated with the ''depersonalization'' component of burnout. Higher j ob satisfaction was associated with ''management'' and ''working with people'' as sources of satisfaction, whereas emotional exhaustion and poorer mental health were associated with less ''career'' satisfaction . (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Inc.