Examining the relationship between occupational stress and mental health with emphasis on the mediating role of coping strategies in the employees of the Jihad Agricultural Organization of Zanjan Province

Faculty of Humanities, Department of Psychology

Tension: Industrial and Organizational

Dissertation for Master's Degree (M.A.)

Investigation of the relationship between occupational stress and mental health with an emphasis on the mediating role of coping strategies

in the employees of the Agricultural Jihad Organization of Zanjan Province

Abstract

The main purpose of this research is to investigate the relationship between stress Career and mental health with emphasis on the role of mediators of coping strategies in employees. For this purpose, 241 people (214 males and 27 females) were selected from among the employees of Zanjan Province Agricultural Jihad Organization in 2013 using Cochran's formula, in a stratified random sampling method, and they were evaluated using Hellrigal and Slocum occupational stress questionnaire, CISS and Goldberg and Hiller general health questionnaire (GHQ-28). The obtained data were statistically evaluated using the path analysis method. The findings showed that occupational stress and its dimensions are capable of predicting changes related to mental health as well as problem-oriented and emotion-oriented coping strategies of subjects. The findings also confirmed the mediating role of problem-oriented and emotion-oriented methods of dealing with stress in the relationship between occupational stress and mental health. According to the findings, mental health can be improved by increasing the problem-oriented strategy through teaching the use of these types of strategies and also reducing the emotion-oriented strategies.

Key words: occupational stress, mental health, coping strategies, employees.

Without a doubt, in today's societies, it is not possible to live without having a job, and every person needs to have a job in order to be able to join the social organization and find a position and dignity in the society. However, work is not just a way to meet the essential needs of life, but is considered as a vital element in the social position of people (Iakovides, Fontoulakis, Caprinis and Caprinis[1], 2003). This is despite the fact that people's jobs are one of the main causes of tension in their lives. For every person, a job is considered as a social identity forming factor, a source of providing life needs and forming a social identity, and it is considered one of the important sources of stress. There is more tension in jobs that involve human communication (Rahmani, Behshid, Zamanzadeh, and Rahmani, 2009). Job stress[2] has become a common and expensive problem in the workplace today (Huell, Sparks and Cooper[3], 2006). Almost all scholars agree that stress is the result of the interaction between a person and a situation in which a person considers his or her ability to respond to demands and pressure insufficient, so that the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health [4] (1999) defines occupational stress as harmful physical and emotional responses of a person when the working conditions do not match the abilities, available facilities, or the needs of the workforce. Occupational stress is one of those that, if excessive, can endanger a person's health by causing physical, mental and behavioral complications. Also, the presence of these pressures, by threatening organizational goals, can reduce the quality of individual performance (Davis and Newstorm, translated by Toosi, 2013). The organizational consequences of stress, decrease in proper performance, increase in the number of absences, resignation cases, decrease in organizational commitment and insecurity of employees and so on. is (Francois[5], 2008). Many researches show the existence of occupational stress and high physical and psychological analysis in employees, which leads to escape from the job, collision between employees and extreme displacement, health disorders and inability to perform tasks, vulnerability in professional communication, reduction in the quality of care provided, and finally, dissatisfaction and leaving the job (Durais and Wilkerson [6], 2003). In many studies on the effect of occupational stress on mental health[7] (Nitro and Takashi[8], 1999; Nilan[9], 2002; Gesron[10], 2002; Hashminjad, Rahimi Moghadam, Mohammadian and Amiri, 2013; Razmi and Nemati Sogli Tepe, 2015; Shahraki Vahad, Mardani Hamouleh, Sancholi and Hamedi Shahraki, 1389; Aghilinjad, Mohammadi, Afkari, Abbaszadeh Dizji, 1386), occupational stress has been introduced as one of the most important factors causing mental damage and mental health reduction, and in most of these studies, stress is considered as a response that is experienced directly under the influence of stressful sources.. But it is important to emphasize that stress does not always come directly from stressful sources, but the way a person perceives stress plays an essential role in experiencing it, because based on studies, it has been found that similar stressful events produce different effects in different people. Therefore, the belief that there are variables that moderate the relationship between stress and mental health has gained strength. One of the variables that can be considered in this context is the methods of dealing with stressful events. So that, based on psychological theories, coping strategies play an important role in reducing stress and thus increasing people's mental health; In other words, the more resources people have to cope, the less likely it is that they will be caught in situations where they are more vulnerable (Behroozian, Khajahuddin, Hedaei and Zamani, 2018). The mechanisms used to deal with stress and the level of social support are important factors that determine the level of emotional breakdown and the reduction of a person's efficiency (Baker, O'Brien and Salahuddin [11], 2007). According to psychological theories, coping styles play an important role in reducing stress and as a result the general health of people (Chinavah, 2010; Zaighmi and Pourbahadini Zarandi, 2010). Therefore, according to the presented materials, it is assumed that strategies for dealing with stressful events can play a mediating role as well as a moderator in the relationship between occupational stress and mental health. Therefore, in the present study, an attempt is made to investigate the relationship between occupational stress and mental health, emphasizing the mediating role of coping strategies in the employees of the Agricultural Jihad Organization of Zanjan province. Despite having abundant natural resources, many societies are unable to use these divine gifts due to the lack of competent and worthy human resources. Efficient human resources are those who, while possessing knowledge and skills, have the necessary abilities to perform job duties sufficiently and effectively, and have mental health (Ganji, 2011). Mental health is defined as balanced and harmonious behavior with society, recognition and acceptance of social realities, the ability to adapt to them and satisfy one's balanced needs (quoted by Hashminjad et al., 2012). In this regard, the World Health Organization [12] (WHO) (2005) considers mental health to be the balance between different aspects of life, global, social, mental, spiritual and emotional, and the ways in which we manage our environment and make decisions for our lives are of particular importance. Mental health is the state of functioning and successful psychological action, which results in fruitful activities, satisfactory relationships with others, the ability to adapt to changes and cope with adversity. Improving mental health in society improves the quality of life. According to the report of the World Health Organization, 1 out of every 4 people (25%) suffer from one or more mental disorders at every stage of life. According to the report of the American Center for Disease Control [13] (CDC), 7.8% of men and 12.3% of women aged 18-24 suffer from mental problems, especially stress. Among the characteristics of people with mental health, we can mention self-knowledge, motivations, desires and environment, integrity of personality, which itself causes harmony between different actions of a person with each other. In Iran, this statistic is not lower than in other countries. So that in the national health and disease survey plan in Iran, the average number of disorders in people over 15 years of age in Iran was reported to be 21% (Khani, Yekefalah and Hajhosseini, 2013). Also, based on the global disease index, the World Health Organization estimates that mental illnesses, including stress related to mental disorders, will be the second cause of disability by 2020 (quoted by Kalia [14], 2002). Meanwhile, numerous studies conducted in different job groups have shown a significant relationship between mental health and job satisfaction of people; In such a way that people with less job satisfaction had less mental health (O-Sullivan, Kian and Murphy [15], 2005). One of the factors that can affect people's mental health is stress caused by work. People who endure a lot of stress pay less attention to doing their work and therefore may cause harm to themselves and other people in the organization. In general, job stress lowers the efficiency and productivity of employees and has a wide impact on mental and physical health.