Job demands-control-social support model and coping strategies: predicting burnout and wellbeing in a group of Italian nurses.

BACKGROUND

Nursing is generally considered to be a stressful profession.

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of the present study was to test the core hypotheses of the job demands-control-social support model (JDCS) of Karasek & Theorell (1990). In order to refine and extend the JDCS model, we also analyzed the direct and interactive role of three coping strategies: task- oriented, emotion-oriented, and avoidance-oriented coping.

METHODS

Questionnaire data from 1383 nurses (77%female) were collected.

RESULTS

Controlling for demographic variables and non-linearity of the associations between job characteristics and outcomes (job satisfaction; burnout dimensions, psychological distress, and somatic complaints), hierarchical regression analyses indicated that job control and social support combined additively (p < 0.001) with job demands to explain the wellbeing outcomes (explained variance between 6% and 28%). Coping strategies accounted for additional variance (p < 0.001; explained variance between 4% and 15%) in all outcomes except in job satisfaction. Support was found for main effects of coping. Coping strategies did not moderate the impact of job characteristics on burnout and wellbeing. Emotion-oriented coping emerged as the most important predictor and was consistently associated with higher burnout levels and lower wellbeing levels.

CONCLUSIONS

The results demonstrated the need to include the role of individual variables in the JDCS model. The limitations of the study, and theoretical and practical implications are discussed.