Serial mediating role of hardiness and positive reinterpretation in optimism and work place stress among young doctors

Abstract

Background

Young doctors are struggling with extreme workplace stress due to inadequate working conditions, high patient load and low salaries in a faltering health care system of Pakistan. These conditions necessitate a focus on psychological resilience factors such as hardiness and positive reinterpretation coping. This study investigates how optimism affects workplace stress through hardiness and positive reinterpretation coping using a serial mediation model. Understanding these psychological dynamics is vital for improving the well-being of doctors in under developed health care system.

Objective

The objective of the study is to explore the serial mediating role of hardiness and positive reinterpretation coping in the association between optimism and workplace stress among young doctors of Pakistan.

Method

Purposive sampling was used to select 200 young house job doctors from public hospitals of Lahore, Pakistan. Self-report questionnaires like Life Orientation Test-Revised, Personal Views Survey (3^rd Edition), Coping Orientation to Problem Experienced and Work place stress scale were used to assess the optimism, hardiness, positive reinterpretation, and work place stress of the participants. All the ethical considerations were taken into account while collecting data and reporting findings. Data was analyzed using SPSS and AMOS.

Results

Findings of Pearson Product Moment Correlation indicated that optimism is positively related with hardiness (r = .32, p < .001) and positive reinterpretation (r = .35, p < .001), and negatively associated with work place stress. Additionally, hardiness was positively linked with positive reinterpretation (r = .46, p < .001). Furthermore, findings also suggest significant negative association of optimism (r = −.24, p < .001), hardiness (r = −.51, p < .001), and positive reinterpretation (r = −.41, p < .001) with work place stress. Findings of SEM suggested that CFI, GFI, TLI, NFI, SRMR, and RMSEA values indicated the model fitness. The serial mediating role of hardiness and positive reinterpretation in the association of optimism and work place stress was also significant as the indirect effect was (b = −.07, p = <.01).

Conclusion

The present research emphasized the sequential interaction of optimism, hardiness, positive reinterpretation and work place stress that advances our knowledge to understand stress management. These findings can be useful in counseling and training of house-job doctors working in unprivileged circumstances.