The Relationship between Organizational Stress and Psychological Well-Being- A Longitudinal Mediation Model

Abstract

Introduction. Most of the specialized studies carried out at the level of the gendarme military population investigate the stress they face in theaters of operations. There is very little peacetime activity and research investigating the impact of operational stress has not been encountered to date. The present study analyzed the longitudinal relationship between operational stress faced by military gendarmes in South-Eastern Europe and psychological well-being. Also, the mediating effects of social support and coping strategies were addressed: seeking social support, positive refocusing and self-control, in the previously mentioned relationship. Methodology. The study investigated the relationship between organizational stress, measured at T1, and psychological well-being, measured four months later, at T2. Furthermore, the mediating role of social support and coping strategies, assessed at both T1 and T2, was examined. Results. Organizational stress significantly negatively predicts psychological well-being. Social support, measured at both T1 and T2, is a significant partial mediator of the relationship between operational stress, measured at T1, and psychological well-being, measured at T2. Self-control, measured at T2, is a partial mediator in the relationship between operational stress, measured at T1, and psychological well-being, measured at T2. Discussions and conclusions. The obtained results guide mental health specialists who work in military units towards the consolidation of intervention programs aimed at the development of social support, in order to reduce the stress felt by this population category.