title: Job-related tension, self-esteem and psychological distress in rehabilitation professionals.
abstract: We examined perceptions of job-related tension among a non-random sample of 52 New Zealand rehabilitation service providers. We considered the relations between job tension and psychological distress and the extent to which feelings of self-esteem moderated this relationship. Major findings are that (a) there is a consistent positive relationship between job tension and general psychological distress; (b) there is a consistent negative relationship between self-esteem and both job tension and general distress; (c) self-esteem moderates the effect of job tension on general distress in that high levels of job tension were associated with increases in psychological distress among respondents with low self-esteem while among respondents with high-self esteem, job-related tension had little negative impact on feelings of psychological distress. Despite a number of limitations, the findings have a number of important implications for professional functioning among rehabilitation service providers and highlight the need for appropriate staff development and training initiatives which focus specifically on service provider wellbeing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Flett
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Biggs
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Alpass
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002055:Burnout, Professional / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008960:Models, Psychological; D012046:Rehabilitation; D012649:Self Concept; D013192:Staff Development; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires