The relationship between work requirements and mental distress in hospital staff: the chain mediating effects of rumination and work recovery classes.

Background: Heavy work requirements can lead to significant increases in depression anxiety and stress among hospital staff. However, there is limited research considering the role of work recovery (WR) and rumination in this relationship, particularly how poor WR can create a vicious cycle of negative psychological outcomes for medical staff.

Objective: In this cross-sectional observational study, the aim is to explore high-risk WR classes among hospital staff. By constructing chain mediation models according to the WR classes, the study seeks to identify which class of medical staff is most affected by work requirements in terms of mental distress, and to examine the chain mediation effects of rumination and WR classes.

Methods: The cross-sectional observational study utilized Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to investigate the relationships among various constructs. It employed the Work Requirements Scale (WRS), the Recovery - Stress Questionnaire (RESTQ), the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS), and the Revised Emotion Control Questionnaire (RECQ) to survey a sample of 889 hospital staff at a tertiary hospital.

Results: The findings revealed three distinct WR classes among hospital staff. Significant associations were found between work requirements and mental distress among medical staff in the low and moderate WR classes. Additionally, in these two classes, there were significant relationships in which rumination and WR classes had a chain-mediated nature about work requirements and mental distress. This suggests that future intervention studies should focus on these two classes and develop psychological health interventions for hospital staff according to different WR classes.