Explaining Job Satisfaction Among Residents in Standardized Residency Training Programs: A Serial Multiple Mediation Model

Hui Zhang; Dandan Chen; Nianqi Cui; Ping Zou; Jing Shao; Xiyi Wang; Yichi Zhang; Jiao Du; Chunxue Du; Guanglan Zhou; Deyi Zheng

doi:10.2147/RMHP.S330217

Explaining Job Satisfaction Among Residents in Standardized Residency Training Programs: A Serial Multiple Mediation Model

Risk Manag Healthc Policy. 2021 Sep 29:14:4073-4081. doi: 10.2147/RMHP.S330217. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Hui Zhang^#¹, Dandan Chen^#², Nianqi Cui³, Ping Zou⁴, Jing Shao², Xiyi Wang⁵, Yichi Zhang⁶, Jiao Du⁶, Chunxue Du⁶, Guanglan Zhou⁶, Deyi Zheng⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Cardiology, Guizhou Provincial People's Hospital, Guiyang, People's Republic of China.
² Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Hangzhou, People's Republic of China.
³ The Second Affiliated Hospital Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, People's Republic of China.
⁴ School of Nursing, Nipissing University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁵ Shanghai JiaoTong University, School of Nursing, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
⁶ Department of Burn and Plastic Surgery, Guizhou Provincial People's Hospital, Guiyang, People's Republic of China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Background: Despite a flood of research on job satisfaction, few studies have examined how and why social support influences job satisfaction. This study aimed to explore how social support has an indirect effect on job satisfaction by examining its impact on emotional exhaustion and anxiety symptoms among residents of the physicians standardized residency training program in China.

Methods: This cross-sectional study adopted questionnaires to collect data from residents in the standardized residency training program in China. The PROCESS macro for SPSS based on ordinary least-squares regression and the bootstrap method was used. The indirect effect of social support was examined using bootstrapping procedures. A serial multiple mediation model was examined in which social support was associated with job satisfaction via emotional exhaustion and anxiety symptoms.

Results: There were 269 residents who provided usable data for the analysis. The mean age of residents was 25.98 years old. Close to half (52%) of the participants were female. The total indirect effect of social support on job satisfaction was significant (ab=0.21, SE=0.05, CI=0.12 to 0.32). The specific indirect effect 1 (social support→emotional exhaustion→job satisfaction) was significant (a1b1=0.12, SE=0.04, CI=0.05 to 0.19). The specific indirect effect 2 (social support→anxiety symptoms→job satisfaction) was significant (a2b2=0.07, SE=0.03, CI=0.02 to 0.13).The specific indirect effect 3 (social support→emotional exhaustion→anxiety symptoms→job satisfaction) was also found to be significant through both optimism and work engagement (a1a3b2=0.03, SE=0.01, CI=0.01 to 0.05).

Conclusion: It seems critical for hospital management to develop a supportive work environment to improve the effects of emotional exhaustion and anxiety symptoms and to provide sufficient support to improve job satisfaction among residents in standardized residency training programs.

Keywords: anxiety symptoms; emotional exhaustion; job satisfaction; residents; social support; standardized residency training programs.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [81760021] and the Science Technology Platform and Talent Team Plan Projects in Guizhou Province [Grant (2017)5405].