Perceived Organizational Support Impacts on the Associations of Work-Family Conflict or Family-Work Conflict with Depressive Symptoms among Chinese Doctors.

Junhui Hao,Wei Wu,Jiana Wang,Hui Wu,Li Liu

doi:10.3390/ijerph13030326

Abstract

As a common mental disorder, depressive symptoms had been studied extensively all over the world. However, positive resources for combating depressive symptoms among Chinese doctors were rarely studied. Our study aimed to investigate the relationships between work-family conflict (WFC) and family-work conflict (FWC) with depressive symptoms among Chinese doctors. Meanwhile, the role of perceived organizational support (POS) in this association was explored at an organizational level. The investigation was conducted between March and April 2014. Questionnaires that measured WFC, FWC, depressive symptoms and POS were distributed to 1200 doctors in Shenyang, China. The final study subjects were 931 doctors (effective response rate: 77.6%). In all analyses, male and female doctors were analyzed separately because of possible gender differences. Hierarchical linear regression analyses were used to examine the moderating role of POS. Baron and Kenny’s technique and asymptotic and resampling strategies were used to explore the mediating role of POS on the associations of WFC or FWC with depressive symptoms. WFC and FWC had positive relations with depressive symptoms among doctors. POS played a partial mediating role on the correlation of FWC with depressive symptoms among male doctors, and POS played a partial mediating role on the correlation of WFC with depressive symptoms among female doctors. POS had a positive moderating effect on the relationship between WFC and depressive symptoms among doctors. WFC and FWC could aggravate doctors’ depressive symptoms, and POS, as an organizational resource, could fight against doctors’ depressive symptoms. When POS functioned as a mediator, FWC had a negative effect on POS, which could increase male doctors’ depressive symptoms, and WFC had a negative effect on POS, which could increase female doctors’ depressive symptoms. In the meantime, POS, as a moderator, could enhance the effects of WFC on depressive symptoms.

Highlights

As a common mental disorder, depressive symptoms had been studied extensively all over the world
This study explored the relations of work-family conflict (WFC) and family-work conflict (FWC) with depressive symptoms and the mediating and moderating effects of perceived organizational support (POS) in the relations among Chinese doctors
Our study revealed that POS had a partial mediating effect on the relationship between FWC and depressive symptoms, and POS had no mediating effect on the relationship between WFC and depressive symptoms

Summary

Introduction

As a common mental disorder, depressive symptoms had been studied extensively all over the world. People from every walk of life can be affected by depressive symptoms, such as college teachers, nurses and doctors [1,2,3,4]. Depressive symptoms threaten people’s health, and affect the development of society [5]. As the major workforce in hospitals, doctors need to do heavy physical and. Res. Public Health 2016, 13, 326; doi:10.3390/ijerph13030326 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph

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