Perceived sources of work stress and satisfaction among hospital and community mental health staff, and their relation to mental health, burnout and job satisfaction

This questionnaire study examined perceived sources of stress and satisfaction at work among 121 mental health staff members. Five factors were derived from principal component analysis of sources of work stress items (stress from: role, poor support, clients, future, and overload), and accounted for 70% of the total variance. Four factors were derived from the items related to sources of job satisfaction (satisfaction from: career, working with people, management, and money), accounting for 68% of the variance. The associations of these factors with sociodemographic and job characteristics were examined, and they were entered as explanatory variables into regression models predicting mental health, burnout, and job satisfaction. Stress from ''overload'' was associated with being based outside an in-patient ward, and with emotional exhaustion and worse mental health. Stress related to the ''future'' was associated with not being white. Stress from ''clients'' was associated with the ''depersonalization'' component of burnout. Higher job satisfaction was associated with ''management'' and ''working with people'' as sources of satisfaction, whereas emotional exhaustion and poorer mental health were associated with less ''career'' satisfaction. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Inc.