An investigation of occupational stress, social support, and happiness of junior civil servants / 中华劳动卫生职业病杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the current status of occupational stress, social support, and happiness in junior civil servants in northern Zhejiang Province, China, and to investigate the relationship between occupational stress, social support and happiness.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 360 junior civil servants from below-county-level administrative organizations in Huzhou, Jiaxing, and Hangzhou were surveyed using the job stress questionnaire and social support rating scale for civil servants.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The total average score of occupational stress in junior civil servants was 2.52 ± 0.48, indicating a moderate level of occupational stress; career prospects topped the rank list of sources of occupational stress with a score of 2.90 ± 0.60; different generations showed significant differences in the sources and total average scores of occupational stress, with the scores of the 1980s, 1990s, 1970s, 1950s, and 1960s groups decreasing in the same order (P<0.01); the occupational stress of males was significantly greater than that of the females (P<0.01). The levels of social support and happiness among the junior civil servants were relatively low, with scores of 38.43 ± 8.38 and 76.88 ± 12.77, respectively; different generations also showed significant differences, with the scores of 1980s, 1990s, 1970s, 1950s, and 1960s groups increasing in the same order (P<0.01); females experienced significantly more social support and happiness than males (P<0.01). Sources of occupational stress like superior leaders, work task, tendency to perfection, and career prospects, objective and subjective support, and utilization of the support were significantly related to the happiness of junior civil servants (r=0.405~0.571, P<0.01; β=0.090~0.210, P <0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Occupational stress and social support are significantly related to the happiness of junior civil servants.</p>