As mental health goes beyond the simple absence of mental disorders, this paper characterized mental health components in 89 underground coal miners in southern Brazil. This is a cross-sectional study, that detected a low prevalence of depression; light or moderate anxiety in 13% of the workers; self-perception of good health; life quality and good psychological capacity in most of the participants; poor sleep quality in half of them; reverse correlations between anxiety and life quality, and anxiety and psychological capital; positive correlations between psychological capital and life quality; associations between self-perception of health, time, and sleep quality; associations between anxiety and sleep duration and quality; and between alcohol consumption and location at work (front, rear, or variable). The results suggest vulnerabilities regarding anxiety and sleep quality. However, there is a potential coping of determinants that impact on mental health.
Keywords: Mental health; anxiety; coal mines; depression; health promotion; psychological capital; worker's health.