Work stressors, coping strategies, and poor mental health in the Chinese construction industry

Abstract

Research on mental health in the construction industry has accelerated recently, and findings reveal that the mental health of construction employees is poor. However, very little research has been conducted on mental health in the construction industry of mainland China which is a key section of the global construction industry. This research, therefore, aims to understand the mental health stressors, coping strategies, and outcomes of construction employees in mainland China. Using an online questionnaire, data were collected from 336 respondents working for different types of organizations across 60 Chinese cities. The results revealed that stressors experienced by Chinese construction employees can be categorized into demanding work time requirements, poor reward, threats at work, work-family conflict, poor social support, and poor work conditions. Stressors related to demanding work time requirements occur more frequently than other stressors and are associated with poor mental health outcomes, while work-family conflict has the strongest influence on poor mental health outcomes. Problem-focused coping strategies were generally preferred to passive emotion-focused and maladaptive coping, while maladaptive coping is strongly associated with poor mental health outcomes. Prevalence rates of medium to extremely severe levels of depression, anxiety, and stress among Chinese construction employees were higher than those of other Chinese employee populations, indicating that construction employees’ preferred coping strategies did not significantly improve their mental health, resulting in their poor mental health outcomes. Interventions from construction organizations and the industry are hence advocated to mitigate the effects of work-related stressors if the mental health of Chinese construction employees is to improve.