Wellbeing, Sense of Coherence, and Emotional Labor among Healthcare Professionals

Abstract

This study aimed to determine whether the demands of emotional labor and its effects vary across disciplines of healthcare professionals, and to identify characteristics of health care workers with good psychological wellbeing. A self-administered cross-sectional survey was conducted involving 155 multidisciplinary healthcare workers at a rehabilitation hospital in Japan. The occupational differences in emotional labor and wellbeing （ General Health Questionnaire: GHQ-12 ） among multidisciplinary healthcare workers were examined using ANOVA with Tukey post hoc comparison. Correlation analysis was performed to assess the relationships between demographic characteristics, emotional labor, sense of coherence (SOC), and wellbeing of participants. To identify factors predicting wellbeing, we generated two classification and regression trees (CART), with GHQ score (continuum variable) and a cutoff score of GHQ ≤ 3 as dependent variables. The SOC score was significantly associated with the GHQ score. There were no significant occupational differences in the wellbeing and emotional labor of healthcare workers. Participants’ age was negatively associated with duration, intensity, and variety of emotions required. None of the aspects of emotional labor were significantly associated with SOC or wellbeing. In the CART analysis, participants with a SOC score > 50 had the highest probability of maintaining good mental health (GHQ ≤ 3). The study concluded that emotional labor demands and their effect are prevalent across multiple professions. Strengthening SOC is vital in ensuring the good psychological status of healthcare professionals.