The role conflict-burnout-depression link among Chinese female health care and social service providers: the moderating effect of marriage and motherhood

Guanghuai Zheng,Xinshu Lyu,Li Pan,Anna Chen

doi:10.1186/s12889-022-12641-y

Guanghuai Zheng, Xinshu Lyu + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-12641-y

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Abstract

BackgroundWomen with depression disorder outnumber men, and health care and social service providers are mostly female. Drawing on conservation of resources (COR) theory, this study aims to examine the association between role conflicts and depression among health care and social service providers, and further investigate the mediating effect of burnout, as well as the moderating effect of marital status and motherhood.MethodsThe data come from the baseline of the ‘China Social Work Longitudinal Study’ conducted in 2019, which contains 1,219 female social workers who reported work-family conflict. The five items of the scale in our model were extracted from the existing literature to ensure the construct validity of potential variables, and confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) were also conducted to ensure the validity and reliability of the scale. Descriptive analyses and correlation analyses were performed with SPSS 24, while the path analysis was conducted using Amos 24. The moderating effects of marital status and motherhood were further tested using multiple-group analyses.ResultsFemale health care and social service providers experienced a high level of depression. Work-to-family conflict (WFC), family-to-work conflict (FWC), and organizational role conflict (ORC) were significantly and positively associated with female social workers’ depression. Exhaustion and cynicism fully mediated the effects of ORC on depression and partially mediated the effects of WFC on depression. In addition, FWC had only a direct effect on depression. A multiple-group analysis further indicated that both marital status and motherhood status may have played a moderating role in the conflict-burnout-depression link and that being unmarried and having no child were risk factors for depression in female health care and social service providers.ConclusionsMarriage and motherhood have both negative and positive effects on the depression of female health care and social service providers. This suggests that marriage and motherhood may act as a form of “family clientelism” for female health care and social service providers who marry and have children.

Highlights

In the rapidly changing work environment influenced by economic globalization and the rise of neoliberal policies and managerialism, health care and social service providers (e.g., nurses, teachers, physicians, psychologists, andZheng et al BMC Public Health (2022) 22:230 social workers) can experience higher rates of depression than the general population [1, 2]
As the majority of health care and social service providers are women and evidence show that female health care and social service providers are at risk of a higher level of depression than male health care and social service providers [6], investigating females’ experiences may provide insights into the nature of depression for people working in the social service sector
Drawing on conservation of resources (COR) theory, this article aims to take broad theoretical and empirical strokes examining the effect of role conflicts on female health care and social service providers’ depression, whether burnout as a psychological response to stress related to work mediates the relationship between role conflicts and depression, and how family resources moderate the conflict-burnout-depression link among female health care and social service providers

Summary

Introduction

Zheng et al BMC Public Health (2022) 22:230 social workers) can experience higher rates of depression than the general population [1, 2]. According to studies conducted in mainland China, the prevalence of depressive symptoms among health care and social service providers was estimated to be 25.9-38% [3, 4]. We adopt a feminist perspective to explore the relationship between role conflicts and female health care and social service providers’ depression. Women with depression disorder outnumber men, and health care and social service providers are mostly female. Drawing on conservation of resources (COR) theory, this study aims to examine the association between role conflicts and depression among health care and social service providers, and further investigate the mediating effect of burnout, as well as the moderating effect of marital status and motherhood

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