The mental health of employees may impact work outcomes. Research indicates that anxiety and depression among employees correlate with adverse work results, such as increased intentions to quit, decreased job satisfaction and performance, and heightened physical symptoms leading to greater sickness absenteeism (Pyc et al., 2017). Additionally, Deady et al. (2022) reported that when anxiety and depression coexist, individuals experience more severe symptoms, poorer work performance, and increased absenteeism than individuals with either condition alone.
Research related to employee mental health, general health, and well-being has gained considerable traction within the organizational and social sciences over the past 40 years, particularly since the development of the formal discipline of occupational health psychology.
Occupational stress arises when there is dissonance between an individual's work abilities and the demands of their job (Harvey et al.,2017). Typically, its impact initially results in psychological symptoms such as anxiety and hostility (Office for National Statistics, 2014; Executive, 2016). Prolonged exposure to such stress without effective coping mechanisms can lead to maladaptive behaviors and heightened health risks (Deschamps et al., 2003; Garbarino et al.,2013).
Stressors, external conditions that can induce stress, may result in various forms of strain (Sauter et al., 1990). Strain can manifest as mental disorders such as anxiety, depression, or posttraumatic stress disorder (Dimoff & Kelloway, 2017) or can lead to subclinical conditions such as burnout (Maslach et al., 1997). The allostatic load model (e.g., Ganster & Rosen, 2013) suggests that consistent dysregulation of bodily systems (e.g., neuroendocrine, metabolic, cardiovascular, immune) due to stressors triggers cognitive and physiological reactions, elevating the risk of long-term health effects, including strain.
Although numerous explanations exist for successful adaptation to stressful situations, organizational behavior researchers often emphasize the significance of emotional stability in stressor-mental health dynamics (Cohen & Edwards, 1989; Ganster & Schaubroeck, 1995; Spector et al., 2000).
Emotional stability, defined as an individual’s ability to effectively manage negative emotions such as anxiety, stress, and anger (Alessandri et al., 2018), is regarded as the basis of human personality. In addition to conscientiousness, conscientiousness has been identified as a crucial trait in work environments (Barrick & Mount, 2000), exhibiting negative associations with stress-related factors such as job burnout (Fornes-Vives et al., 2019), emotional exhaustion (Sosnowska et al., 2019), anxiety (Chen et al., 2020), and anger (Rogers & Barber, 2019).
According to Lazarus's (1966) transactional theory of stress, certain personality traits influence the stress process by shaping how individuals perceive stressors. Emotional stability has emerged as a significant trait in work-related stress research (Alessandri et al., 2018), reflecting individuals' ability to manage negative emotions (Li & Ahlstrom, 2016) and remain composed in challenging situations (Rogers & Barber, 2019). Higher emotional stability is associated with reduced exposure to strain-inducing situations, known as the differential exposure hypothesis (Kammeyer-Mueller et al., 2009). Additionally, Zuckerman (1995) reported a stronger relationship between coping strategies and depression alleviation among individuals with greater emotional stability.
According to the conservation of resources theory, individuals with high emotional stability, predisposed to perceiving control over their work environment, are likely to report fewer workplace stressors. Conversely, those with low emotional stability tend to experience heightened negative affective states (Watson, 2000), leading them to perceive their jobs as more stressful (Brief, Burke, George, Robinson, & Webster, 1988; Spector, Jex, & Chen, 1995; Spector et al., 2000; Watson & Clark, 1984).
Theoretically, low emotional stability appears to operate as a form of individual vulnerability to stress, or a diathesis, which is essentially a fundamental predisposition to develop symptoms related to mental health issues. In contrast, high emotional stability represents personal resources that operate as a protective factor, making individuals more resilient and thus less prone to mental health issues (Hobfoll, 1989, 2001). This theoretical interpretation of the role of high emotional stability as a personal protective resource is supported by a host of empirical studies. Workers who report low scores on this factor tend to be anxious, insecure, depressed, fearful, and nervous (McCrae & Costa, 2008). Moreover, low emotional stability is related to the use of ineffective coping strategies such as denial, wishful thinking, and self-criticism (Bolger, 1990; Heppner, Cook, Wright, & Johnson, 1995).
Building on the above theories, we hypothesize that emotional stability moderates the relationship between stressors and mental health (H1).
The job demands-resources theory (JD-R model, Bakker & Demerouti, 2018) of work stress suggests that negative health outcomes result from prolonged exposure to job demands and inadequate resources. Job demands entail continuous effort (e.g., high workload, interpersonal conflicts), while resources encompass factors that facilitate motivation and goal achievement (Schaufeli & Bakker, 2004; Schaufeli & Taris, 2014). Sustained high job demands lead to employee strain, whereas ample resources enhance coping with stressors and work performance.
According to JD-R theory, employees utilize personal resources to manage job demands. These resources, including personality traits such as emotional stability and competence, aid individuals in adapting effectively to their work environment (Bakker & Demerouti, 2006; Schaufeli & Taris, 2014; Xanthopoulou, Bakker, Demerouti, & Schaufeli, 2007). Personal resources can mitigate the impact of job demands on health outcomes by altering perceptions of job demands (i.e., such that they are less stressful) and/or by buffering relationships among job stressors and strain outcomes (Schaufeli & Taris, 2014). Job strain can adversely affect employees' mental health (Bakker & Costa, 2014).
Therefore, we hypothesize that stressors mediate the relationship between competence and mental health (H2).
Compared to other personality traits such as conscientiousness and extraversion, emotional stability exhibits closer associations with job-related behaviors (Oprea et al., 2019) and stronger correlations with emotional states such as stress (Alessandri et al., 2018), exhaustion (Liu & Yu, 2019), and subjective well-being (Sobol-Kwapinska, 2016).
The conservation of resources theory, from a control-based perspective, posits that stress ensues when individuals perceive a loss of valued resources (Hobfoll, 1989). Moreover, individuals with greater emotional stability are less prone to stress from job demands than are those with lower emotional stability (Parkes, 1990).
The role of emotional stability in the competence-stressor relationship as a moderator, a direct contributor, or both remains uncertain (Grant & Langan-Fox, 2007). Research on its moderating effect has yielded mixed findings, with some studies indicating significant interactions (Moyle, 1995; Parkes, 1990) while others have not (Grant & Langan-Fox, 2007). In particular, high emotional stability is linked to lower perceived distraction levels (Seddigh, Berntson, Platts, & Westerlund, 2016).
Drawing from Lazarus' (1966) stress theory and Mitchell et al.'s (2019) framework and addressing their suggestion (Mitchell et al., 2019), we hypothesize that emotional stability (Alessandri et al., 2018) moderates the competence-stressor relationship (H3).
Although there is more research on employee mental health in general, it is still rare to find researchers examining mental health and illness in specific groups of workers, such as those in precarious work arrangements or human service professions. By lumping all workers together, research findings may lack meaningful insights, given the individualized nature of mental health (Sparks & Cooper, 1999). Learning about specific groups of workers who differ in their propensity to experience stress processes and learning how specific groups of workers influence coping styles can aid organizations in selecting suitable candidates for stressful work conditions.
This study aimed to elucidate the developmental mechanisms of mental health issues among Chinese police officers. Identifying these mechanisms will offer insights into the barriers and resources impacting the well-being of officers. Patrolling officers engage in daily public interactions, maintaining public safety and enforcing the law. Policing is globally recognized as a high-strain, high-risk profession that impacts lifestyle officers (Leino et al., 2011) and physical (Cardoso et al., 2017; Benyamina Douma et al., 2018), mental (Purba, 2019), and social health (Davey et al., 2001; Tuttle et al., et al., 2018). Moreover, workplace environmental factors, including leadership (Santa et al., 2019), work culture (Hakik, 2020), staffing levels (Deschamps et al., 2003), and work schedules (Fekedulegn et al.,2013), have significant implications for police officers' health.
Here are the moderated mediation model (as shown in Fig. 1) and the hypotheses.