住院醫師工作疲勞與個人性格及因應型態的關連

Objectives: During the residency training years, compared to other periods of professional development, physicians must adjust to tougher workloads, higher professional self- expectations, and increased demands from patients, The objective of this study is to explore how the development of burnout among resident physicians is related to their personal characteristics or coping styles. Knowing how burnout develops in relation to these two factors may provide healthcare educators and physicians with an important approach to preventing physician burnout. This study proposes that physicians with lower occurrence of burnout may possess more positive personal characteristics, such as extroversion, conscientiousness, and agreeability which may then increase their ability to develop more active adaptation skills and coping styles. Methods: A total of 554 resident physicians, (67.7% male and 32.3% female), were enrolled in this study. All of them completed three measures: Copenhagen Burnout Inventory, Coping Strategies Inventory, and Five-factor Inventory. They were then divided into three groups according to the scores obtained from these indices: high, moderate, and low burnout. Analysis of variance and Scheffé tests were used to assess the relationship between burnout, personal characteristics, and coping styles. Results: 1. Compared with the high burnout group, the residents in the low burnout group exhibited less neuroticism, more extroversion, more conscientiousness and more agreeability. There was no significant difference in the dimension of openness amongst the three groups. 2. The low burnout group tended to use engagement coping styles more so than the moderate or high burnout groups . The high burnout group tended to use disengagement coping styles. Discussion: The presence of positive or negative personal characteristics of those in the low, moderate, and high burnout groups correlates with the occurrence of physician burnout. The low burnout residents exhibited more positive characteristics and active coping styles than those in the other groups. If physicians are made aware of potentially detrimental personal characteristics, and adjust their behavior and coping styles accordingly, they may better meet the various challenges in their medical career. We therefore conclude that certain personal characteristics and coping styles may protect physicians from burnout. Further study is suggested to explore these protective factors and how best to employ them

Expressed emotion and its relationship to adolescent depression and antisocial behavior in northern Taiwan

Background/Purpose: Despite widespread recognition of the occurrence of antisocial behavior and depression in adolescents, the specifics of the relationship between them have not been clarified. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of expressed emotion as a proximal factor for depression and antisocial behavior among adolescents, by looking at direct and indirect relationships . Methods: Secondary data analysis using path analysis was carried out on 2004 data from the Child and Adolescent Behaviors in Long-term Evaluation project. The study sample consisted of 1599 seventh-grade students in Northern Taiwan. Variables included family factors, personal factors (sex and academic performance), expressed emotion [emotional involvement (EI) and perceived criticism (PC)], depression, and antisocial behavior . Results: We found that one dimension of expressed emotion , PC, directly influenced student depression and related indirectly to antisocial behavior . Depression was an important mediator between PC and antisocial behavior . Another dimension, El, did not influence either depression or antisocial behavior . Sex was related directly to expressed emotion , depression, and antisocial behavior , and also indirectly to antisocial behavior through PC and depression. Academic performance was related directly to expressed emotion and indirectly to antisocial behavior through PC and depression. Conclusion: Greater PC from parents directly contributed to higher levels of student depression and was related indirectly to more student antisocial behavior . It is suggested that parents should decrease overly critical parenting styles to promote adolescent mental health and avoid the development of antisocial behavior

Stress, personal characteristics and burnout among first postgraduate year residents : a nationwide study in Taiwan

To investigate stress and burnout in first postgraduate year (PGY-1) residents and to explore the relationship among stress, personal characteristics and burnout. Methods: A total of 555 PGY-1 residents completed the job stress questionnaire, a Chinese version of the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory, NEO-Five Factor Inventory, Positive and Negative Affectivity Schedule Scale and Coping Strategies Inventory. Working hours were also collected. The association among stress, burnout, personality, coping strategies and affectivity was examined by Pearson correlation. Hierarchical multiple regression was performed to analyze the contribution of predictors to burnout. Results: Residents identified their working environment and emotional pressures and demands from patients as their primary sources of stress. They exhibited less neuroticism, more conscientiousness and a propensity for positive affectivity, as well as a tendency to use engagement coping strategies. Burnout was positively correlated with stress, neuroticism, negative affectivity, disengagement coping and weekly work hours. Job stress and work hours explained 24.7% of variance in burnout; personality and coping strategies explained an additional 10.4% and 5.4% of variance, respectively. Besides job stress and work-hours, introversion, conscientiousness, having negative affectivity and using disengagement coping predicted burnout. Conclusions: Resident's personal characteristics were closely related to stress and burnout. Therefore, in addition to assessing their work-related stress, exploring their personal characteristics should be taken into account for early identification of residents at risk of burnout