These findings suggest that in addition to effort-money ratio, overcommitment at work is an especially important issue that may be able to be managed in health promotion services for nurses in general hospitals.

Background:People with a strong sense of coherence (SOC) have a high ability to cope with stress and maintain good physical and mental health.Aims:The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between depressive state, job stress, and SOC among nurses in a Japanese general hospital.Materials and Methods:A self-reporting survey was conducted among 348 female nurses in a general hospital. Job stress was measured using the Japanese version of the effort-reward imbalance (ERI) scale. Depressive state was assessed by the K6 scale. SOC was assessed with the SOC scale, which includes 29 items. Stepwise multiple regression analysis was conducted to examine factors that significantly affect depressive state.Results:SOC, over-commitment, effort-esteem ratio, and age were significantly correlated with the depressive state (β = −0.46, P < 0.001; β = 0.27, P < 0.001; β = 0.16, P < 0.001; β = −0.10, P < 0.001, respectively).Conclusions:SOC may have a major influence on the depressive state among female nurses in a Japanese general hospital. From a practical perspective, health care professionals should try to enhance the SOC of nurses.

Objectives: A casual relationship between temperament, job stress and depressive symptoms has not been established yet. The purpose of this study was to assess the relationships between job stress, temperament and depressive symptoms in female nurses at a Japanese general hospital. Material and Methods: A self-report survey was conducted among 706 nurses. We measured job stress, temperament, and depressive symptoms using the Brief-Job Stress Questionnaire, the TEMPS-A and a screening scale of items from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan. In order to examine the causal relationship between the measures the stepwise multiple regression and path analyses were used. Results: Depressive symptoms were modestly correlated with job stress (γ = -0.23-0.30). Except for hyperthymic temperament measures, the correlations between depressive symptoms and temperament types were significant and moderate (γ = 0.36-0.50). Overtime, job control as well as depressive and cyclothymic types of temperament were significantly correlated with depressive symptoms (β = 0.15, p < 0.05; β = 0.19, p < 0.01; β = 0.26, p < 0.001; β = 0.32, p < 0.001, respectively). Path-analysis revealed that depressive and cyclothymic types of temperament influenced depressive symptoms both directly (β = 0.67, p < 0.001) and indirectly via job stress (β = 0.35, p < 0.001 from temperament to job stress; β = 0.20, p < 0.05 from job stress to depressive symptoms). Irritable and anxious types of temperament and quantitative job overload did not contribute to the path-analytic model. Conclusions: Health care professionals should consider temperament, especially depressive and cyclothymic types, in order to help employees cope better with job stress factors. We need further research about the effective intervention to help employees better cope with their job stress.

Background According to previous studies, temperament predicts a large share of the variance in job stress. It may be necessary for mental health practitioners to offer intervention strategies in accordance with individual temperament. AimsTo investigate the relationship between job stress and temperament among nurses in a general hospital and to provide insight into personality traits influencing their mental or physical health. MethodsA questionnaire survey of nurses in a general hospital. Work stress was measured using the Japanese version of the Effort-Reward Imbalance (ERI) scale. Temperament was assessed by a Japanese version of Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris and San Diego-Autoquestionnaire (TEMPS-A). Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was used to determine the independent contribution of temperament to effort-reward ratio and over-commitment. ResultsResponse rate was 48% (326/685). Temperament predicted part of the variance of the four ERI ratios (effort-reward ratio 26%; effort-esteem ratio 27%; effort-promotion ratio 26%; and effort-security ratio 18%) and also of over-commitment (38%). Depressive temperament influenced all four ERI ratios and over-commitment. Anxious temperament influenced only over-commitment. ConclusionsNurses with depressive or anxious temperaments should be identified, monitored for signs of job stress and offered interventions to prevent adverse physical and mental effects.

Aims. The current study aims to examine the influence of job stress, SOC, and personality traits on depressive state. Methods. A self-reported survey was conducted among 347 female nurses in a general hospital. Job stress was measured using the Japanese version of the Brief-Job Stress Questionnaire scale. Depressive state was assessed by the K6 scale. We used 13-item SOC scale. Personality traits were assessed by the Japanese version of Ten-Item Personality Inventory. Multiple liner regression analyses were conducted to examine predictors that significantly affect depressive state. Results. Job and life satisfaction and SOC negatively related to the depressive state (β = −0.76, P < 0.01; β = −0.18, P < 0.001, resp.) while neuroticism was positively correlated (β = 0.49, P < 0.001). Also, intrinsic rewards tended to negatively relate (β = −0.80, P < 0.1). Conclusions. From a practical perspective, the possible influence of SOC and neurotic personality on depressive state should be considered for health care professionals.