Browse > Article
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.shaw.2022.02.002

How Role Overload Affects Physical and Psychological Health of Low-ranking Government Employees at Different Ages: The Mediating Role of Burnout  

Huang, Qing (Centre for Quality of Life and Public Policy Research, School of Political Science and Public Administration, Shandong University)
Wang, Yidan (School of Political Science and Public Administration, Shandong University)
Yuan, Ke (Academy of China Open Economy Studies, University of International Business and Economics)
Liu, Huaxing (School of Political Science and Public Administration, Shandong University)
Publication Information
Safety and Health at Work / v.13, no.2, 2022 , pp. 207-212 More about this Journal
Abstract
Background: The public now imposes higher demands on the government than in the past, which has created the role overload faced by low-ranking government employees in China. This research investigates the relationship between role overload and health among low-ranking government employees and explores the mediating effects of burnout. Methods: It draws on a survey of 2064 low-ranking government employees by probability proportionate to size sampling in China's Shandong Province. Structural equation modeling (SEM) methods are used to analyze the data. Results: Both role overload and burnout were found to have negative effects on low-ranking government employees' health; however, the associations varied among the three age groups (less than 36, between 36 and 45, and over 45). Those over 45 reported the highest level of both physical and psychological health, while the youngest age group (less than 36) reported the lowest level of health. Role overload has a direct influence on health among government employees over 45 but not among those below 45. Burnout's mediating effects between role overload and health are significant among all age groups, but most significant among the youngest civil servants below 36. Conclusions: The findings evidenced that both role overload and burnout affect low-ranking government employees' self-reported physical and psychological health. In addition, the effect of age differences in coping with role stressors and burnout should be considered.
Keywords
Burnout; Low-ranking government employees; Physical and psychological health; Role overload;
Citations & Related Records
연도 인용수 순위
  • Reference
1 Wang Z, You Y. The arrival of critical citizens: decline of political trust and shifting public priorities in China. International Review of Sociology 2016;1:105-24.   DOI
2 Dewa CS, McDaid D, Ettner SL. An international perspective on worker mental health problems: who bears the burden and how are costs addressed? The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry 2007;52(6):346-56.   DOI
3 Bolino MC, Turnley WH. The personal costs of citizenship behavior: the relationship between individual initiative and role overload, job stress, and work-family conflict. Journal of Applied Psychology 2005;90(4):740-8.   DOI
4 Bliese PD, Castro CA. Role clarity, work overload and organizational support: multilevel evidence of the importance of support. Work & Stress 2000;14(1):65-73.   DOI
5 Hang-yue N, Foley S, Loi R. Work role stressors and turnover intentions: a study of professional clergy in Hong Kong. The International Journal of Human Resource Management 2005;16(11):2133-46.   DOI
6 Khattak JK, Khan MA, Haq AU, et al. Occupational stress and burnout in Pakistan's banking sector. African Journal of Business Management 2011;5:810-7.
7 Hayes AF. Beyond baron and Kenny: statistical mediation analysis in the new millennium. Communication Monographs 2009;76(4):408-20.   DOI
8 The WHOQOL Group. The world health organization quality of life assessment (WHO QOL): development and general psychometric properties. Social Science Medicine 1998;46:1569-85.   DOI
9 Archer JA, Lim ZMT, Teh HC, Chang WC, Annabel Chen SH. The effect of age on the relationship between stress, well-being and Health in a Singaporean sample. Ageing International 2015;40:413-25.   DOI
10 Dawson KM, O'Brien KE, Beehr TA. The role of hindrance stressors in the job Demand-control-support model of occupational stress: a proposed theory revision. Journal of Organizational Behavior 2016;37(3):397-415.   DOI
11 Stroe S, Wincent J, Parida V. Untangling intense engagement in entrepreneurship: role overload and obsessive passion in early-stage entrepreneurs. Journal of Business Research 2018;90:59-66.   DOI
12 Brown SP, Jones E, Leigh TW. The attenuating effect of role overload on relationships linking self-efficacy and goal level to work performance. Journal of Applied Psychology 2005;90(5):972-9.   DOI
13 Alfes K, Shantz AD, Ritz A. A multilevel examination of the relationship between role overload and employee subjective health: the buffering effect of support climates. Human Resource Management 2018;57(2):659-73.   DOI
14 Finney C, Stergiopoulos E, Hensel J, Bonato S, Dewa CS. Organizational stressors associated with job stress and burnout in correctional officers: a systematic review. BMC Public Health 2013;13(1):82-95.   DOI
15 Norris P. Critical citizens: global support for democratic government. New York: Oxford University Press; 1999.
16 Huang X, Cao Q, Liu L, Yao J, Rui G. Factors influencing depression in Chinese civil servants. Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal 2018;46(8):1233-43.   DOI
17 Huang Q, Liu H, Chu C. Effects of paternalistic leadership on quality of life of grassroots officials in China: mediation Effects of Burnout. Applied Research in Quality Life 2021;16:2113-30.   DOI
18 Perrewe PL, Zellars KL, Rossi AM, Ferris GR, Kacmar CJ, Liu Y, Zinko R, Hochwarter WA. Political skill: an antidote in the role overload-strain relationship. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology 2005;10(3):239-50.   DOI
19 Hockey GJ. Cognitive-energetical control mechanisms in the management of work demands and psychological health. In: Baddeley AD, Weiskrantz L, editors. Attention, selection, awareness and control: a tribute to Donald Broadbent. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press; 1993. p. 328-45.
20 Bakker AB, Demerouti E. Job demands-resources theory: taking stock and looking forward. Journal of Occupational Health 2017;22(3):273-328.
21 Demerouti E, Bakker AB, Nachreiner F, Schaufeli WB. The job demandse resources model of burnout. Journal of Applied Psychology 2001;86(3):499-512.   DOI
22 Shahram H, Somayeh A, Behnam GF. The effect of occupational stress, psychological stress and burnout on employee performance: evidence from banking industry. Management Science Letter 2014;4:2101-6.   DOI
23 Maslach C, Schaufeli WB, Leiter MP. Job burnout. Annual Review of Psychology 2015;2:397-422.
24 Li X, Kan D, Liu L, Shi M, Wang Y, Yang X, Wang J, Wang L, Wu H. The mediating role of psychological capital on the association between occupational stress and job burnout among bank employees in China. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2015;12(1):2984-3001.   DOI
25 Jiao C, Leng A, Nicholas S, Maitland E, Wang J, Zhao Q, Xu L, Gong C. Multi-morbidity and mental health: the role of gender among disease-causing poverty, rural, aged households in China. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2020;17:8855. 2020.   DOI
26 Jaracz M, Rosiak I, Bertrand-Bucinska A, Jaskulski M, Nie zurawska J, Borkowska A. Affective temperament, job stress and professional burnout in nurses and civil servants. Plos One 2017;12(6):e0176698.   DOI
27 Hong W, Xie Z, Zhou L, Xu H, Hao S. Effect of resilience on depression and anxiety symptoms in Chinese grassroots civil servants. Chines Journal Clinical Psychology 2015;23(5):795-8.
28 Cavanaugh MA, Boswell WR, Roehling MV, Boudreau JW. An empirical examination of self-reported work stress among U.S. managers. Journal of Applied Psychology 2000;85(1):65-75.   DOI
29 Eisenberger R, Cummings J, Armeli S, Lynch P. Perceived organizational support, discretionary treatment, and job satisfaction. Journal of Applied Psychology 1997;82(5):812-20.   DOI
30 Rauschenbach C, Krumm S, Thielgen M, Hertel G. Age and work-related stress: a review and meta-analysis. Journal of Managerial Psychology 2013;28(7/8):781-804.   DOI
31 Saijo Y, Chiba S, Yoshioka E, Nakagi Y, Ito T, Kitaoka-Higashiguchi K, Yoshida T. Synergistic interaction between job control and social support at work on depression, burnout, and insomnia among Japanese civil servants. International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health 2015;88(2):143-52.   DOI
32 Hao S, Hong W, Xu H, Zhou L, Xie Z. Relationship between resilience, stress and burnout among civil servants in Beijing, China: mediating and moderating effect analysis. Personality & Individual Differences 2015;83:65-71.   DOI
33 Schaubroeck J, Cotton J, Jennings K. Antecedents and consequences of role stress: a covariance structure analysis. Journal of Organizational Behavior 1989;10:35-58.   DOI
34 Podsakoff NP, LePine JA, LePine MA. Differential challenge stressor-hindrance stressor relationships with job attitudes, turnover intentions, turnover, and withdrawal behavior: a meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology 2007;92:438-54.   DOI
35 Lin M, Ling Q. Is role stress always harmful? Differentiating role overload and role ambiguity in the challenge-hindrance stressors framework. Tourism Management 2018;68:355-66.   DOI
36 Liu H, Gao H, Huang Q. Better government, happier residents? quality of government and life satisfaction in China. Social Indicators Research 2020;147(2):971-90.   DOI