On the association between job dissatisfaction and employee’s mental health problems: Does emotional regulation ability buffer the link?

• Published in: Personality and individual differences Vol. 155; p. 109710
• Main Authors: Extremera, Natalio, Mérida-López, Sergio, Quintana-Orts, Cirenia, Rey, Lourdes
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.03.2020; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Ability; Anxiety; Buffering effect; Depression; Discontent; Emotion regulation ability; Emotional regulation; Emotional well being; Emotions; Health problems; Job dissatisfaction; Mental depression; Mental disorders; Mental health; Occupational stress; Protective factors; Stress; Workplaces; Emotion regulation ability; Depression; Job dissatisfaction; Anxiety; Stress; Buffering effect
• ISSN: 0191-8869; 1873-3549
• DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2019.109710

•Job dissatisfaction was significant associated to higher mental health problems.•Emotion-regulation abilities buffer the link.•With higher emotion regulation abilities, the effect was weaker. Meta-analytic research has demonstrated that job dissatisfaction levels may be related to lower emotional well-being. However, few studies have specifically focused on protective factors that might serve as a buffer in the link between job dissatisfaction and mental health problems in the workplace. This study examined the moderating role of emotion regulation ability (ERA) in the association between job dissatisfaction and mental health problems (i.e., depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms) among 629 professional workers. In a multi-occupational sample, we measured ERA along with indices of job dissatisfaction, depression, anxiety, and stress. The results showed that job dissatisfaction was positively related to depression, anxiety, and stress, but that these relationships were buffered by levels of ERA; that is, higher job dissatisfaction was associated with more mental health problems, but the effect was weaker for those employees with higher ERA. These findings identify emotion-regulation ability as a noteworthy contributor to protection from mental health problems in cases of job dissatisfaction, and highlight the need to consider emotional resources in the workplace when investigating mental health problems relating to chronic job dissatisfaction.