Demands, control, supportive relationships and well-being amongst British mental health workers

Staff well-being is considered to be a potential problem within mental health occupations, and its variability is in need of investigation. Our starting point is to assess the role of demands, control and supportive relationships that are at the core of Karasek's model. The study aims to assess the relationship amongst mental health workers of job demands, control and support (from peers and superiors) with multiple measures of well-being.

Data were obtained through a self-completion questionnaire from mental health staff in 100 inpatient wards, 18 crisis resolution/home treatment teams and 18 community mental health teams. The data was analysed using multilevel regression analysis.

Job demands (negatively), control (positively) and supportive relationships (positively) are each uniquely associated with the five measures of well-being included in the study: namely intrinsic satisfaction, anxiety, depression, emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment. Non-linear and interaction effects involving these demands, control and supportive relationships are found, but vary in type and strength across well-being measures.

The combination of low levels of demands and high levels of control and supportive relationships is good for the well-being of mental health staff. Our results suggest that management initiatives in mental health services should be targeted at creating this combination within the working environment, and particularly at increasing levels of job control.