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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Occupational Health and Safety
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1515593
This article is part of the Research Topic Integrating Health Psychology in Practice: Enhancing Well-being and Improving Health Outcomes Across Diverse Contexts View all articles

Effort-Reward Imbalance and Health Outcomes in Emergency Nurses: The Mediating Role of Work-Family Conflict and Intrinsic Effort

Provisionally accepted
Le Tong Le Tong 1,2*Zhu Ling Zhu Ling 1Hao Zhang Hao Zhang 1Luying Zhong Luying Zhong 1Dongmei Diao Dongmei Diao 1Xiaoli Chen Xiaoli Chen 1Jianna Zhang Jianna Zhang 1*
  • 1 West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
  • 2 Disaster Medical Center, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Emergency nurses experience high stress, but the mechanisms linking effort-reward imbalance to health outcomes are unclear. Work-family conflict might mediate this relationship, and intrinsic effort could moderate it. This study aimed to explore these interactions and their impact on nurse health.A prospective cross-sectional survey was conducted from 30 tertiary hospitals across 19 provinces in mainland China. Participants completed validated scales to measure effort-reward imbalance, work-family conflict, somatic symptoms, and mental health symptoms. Statistical analyses, including mediation and moderation, were performed using the PROCESS macro to evaluate the relationships between the variables.Results: In this study, 1540 emergency nurses were finally included. The analysis revealed that 80.5% of participants reported experiencing effort-reward imbalance, which was significantly associated with increased somatic symptoms and mental symptoms. work-family conflict was identified as a significant mediator in the relationship between effort-reward imbalance and health outcomes, with a direct effect of effort-reward imbalance on overall symptoms (β = 0.554, p < 0.001).Additionally, intrinsic effort moderated the impact of effort-reward imbalance on work-family conflict; moderate levels of emotional investment provided protection against burnout, while excessive intrinsic effort heightened the risk of mental health deterioration (β = -0.104, p < 0.001).: These findings underscored the urgent need for targeted interventions that address both effort-reward imbalance and work-family conflict in healthcare settings. Enhancing workplace conditions and supporting emotional engagement among emergency nurses are essential strategies for improving their well-being and reducing burnout risk. Future research should focus on longitudinal studies to assess the effectiveness of these interventions over time.

    Keywords: work-life balance, Emergency Nursing, Mental Health, Effort-reward imbalance, Intrinsic effort

    Received: 23 Oct 2024; Accepted: 29 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Tong, Ling, Zhang, Zhong, Diao, Chen and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Le Tong, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
    Jianna Zhang, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.