Psychometric Properties of the Korean Version of the Mental Health Professionals Stress Scale.

Eun Sol Lee,Hyeon Hong,Hyeree Han,Subin Park,Ji Hyun Lee,Vin Ryu

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.685423

Abstract

Background: Job stress of mental health professionals can have a negative impact on them, particularly their psychological health and mortality, and may also affect organizations' and institutions' ability to provide quality mental health services to patients.Aim: This study aimed to: (1) investigate the validity and reliability of the Korean Mental Health Professionals Stress Scale (K-MHPSS), (2) develop K-MHPSS cut-off points to measure clinical depression and anxiety, and (3) examine whether specific stressors vary by area of expertise.Methodology: Data were collected via an online survey over 3 months, from August to October 2020. An online survey using a survey website was administered to volunteers who accessed the link and consented to participate. Data from 558 participants (200 clinical psychologists, 157 nurses, and 201 social workers) were included in the final analysis. Confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses were conducted to examine the factor structure of the K-MHPSS; concurrent validity of the scale was determined by analyzing correlation; internal consistency was determined by Cronbach's alpha coefficient. In addition, ROC curve analysis and Youden's index were used to estimate optimal cut-off points for K-MHPSS; one-way ANOVA was performed to investigate the difference among the three groups.Results: The seven-factor model of the original scale did not be replicated by Korean mental health professionals. The K-MHPSS had the best fit with the six-factor model, which consists of 34 items. Concurrent validity was confirmed, and overall reliability was found to be good. The K-MHPSS cut-off points for depression and anxiety appeared to slightly different by professional groups. Furthermore, nurses and social workers showed significantly higher total scores compared to clinical psychologists, and there are significant differences in subscale scores among professionals.Conclusion: The Korean version of the MHPSS has appropriate psychometric properties and can be used to assess the occupational stress of mental health professionals. It can also serve as a reference point for screening clinical level of depression and anxiety in mental health professionals.

Highlights

Mental health professionals’ job stress and mental suffering are occasionally underestimated because they have more psychiatric information and knowledge than the general public
The study objectives were to: [1] investigate the validity and reliability of the Korean Mental Health Professionals Stress Scale (MHPSS) by conducting factor and correlation analyses and examining internal consistency to determine whether the tool has adequate reliability; [2] develop MHPSS cut-off points to screen for clinical depression and anxiety that can be used by mental health professionals to determine their stress level and screen for depression and anxiety, adding to its clinical utility; and [3] examine whether specific stressors vary by area of expertise, and test the relative contributions of stressors to psychological problems
Korean Version of Copenhagen Burnout Inventory Concurrent validity of the K-MHPSS was tested against the CBIK [39], which was developed to measure fatigue and burnout

Summary

Introduction

Mental health professionals’ job stress and mental suffering are occasionally underestimated because they have more psychiatric information and knowledge than the general public. Given the nature of their jobs, mental health professionals often attend to patients and clients with psychiatric problems for prolonged periods, which exposes them to emotional exhaustion and mental stress [3]. A meta-analysis study estimated that 40% of mental health professionals experience emotional exhaustion, a key dimension of burnout [11]. A recent study showed that the effect of job stress on psychological problems was mediated by burnout [6]. Nurses’ job stress can cause mental health problems, such as depression and anxiety, through the mediation of emotional exhaustion. The items are rated on a five-point Likert scale (0 = never/almost never or to a very low degree, 25 = seldom or to a low degree, 50 = sometimes or somewhat, 75 = often or to a high degree, 100 = always or to a very high degree), and subscale scores were used for analysis, where a higher score indicated a higher level of burnout

Objectives

Results

Conclusion