Job demands and resources and their relationship with satisfaction and thriving at work in a sample of Chinese doctors: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVES: The current study aimed to evaluate the status quo of perceived job demands and resources respectively among Chinese doctors, to examine the mediating role of work–family conflicts in the relationship between perceived job demands and various indicators of well-being, and to test the mediating role of psychological attachment in the relationship between perceived job resources and thriving at work among Chinese doctors. DESIGN: A cross-sectional online survey study. SETTING: Online questionnaires were administered across 30 provinces. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 2617 doctors provided sufficiently complete responses to be used in the study. RESULTS: Perceived job demands (M=3.843, SD=0.791) of participants were positively associated with work–family conflicts (B=0.454, p<0.001) and negatively associated with job satisfaction (B=−0.065, p<0.001) and life satisfaction (B=−0.261, p<0.001). Work–family conflicts partially mediated the relationship between job demands and life satisfaction and fully mediated the relationship between job demands and job satisfaction. Perceived job resources (M=2.474, SD=0.740) among Chinese doctors were positively associated with psychological attachment (B=0.988, p<0.001) and thriving at work (B=0.582, p<0.001). Furthermore, psychological attachment partially mediated the relationship between perceived job resources and thriving at work. CONCLUSION: Doctors in China with high-level job demands tended to exhibit increased work–family conflicts, which in turn threatened their job and life satisfaction. On the contrary, doctors with greater job resources were more likely to thrive at work by increasing their degree of psychological attachment. The current study suggested that Chinese health policymakers and hospital administrators should provide a work environment with a dynamic equilibrium between doctors’ job demands and resources.