Psychological Flexibility and Occupational Stress of Nurses: Mediating Role of Emotional Regulation

Abstract

Aim of the study: This current study explored the relationship between psychological flexibility, emotional regulation, and occupational stress of nurses. Furthermore, this study also aimed to study the mediating role of emotional regulation between psychological flexibility and occupational stress of nurses.

Method: This study has employed a cross-sectional design and used correlational research strategy. The data was collected employing purposive sampling technique from (N=366) nurses working in different tertiary care hospitals of twin cities of Pakistan i.e., Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Both men and women nurses were included in the sample. Psychological Flexibility Questionnaire, Scale of Emotional Self-Regulation, and Subjective Job Stress Scale were used as measures of these study variables.

Findings: Results of Pearson Product Moment Correlation brought out a significant positive relationship (r = .49**) between psychological flexibility and emotional regulation, and a significant negative relationship (r -.19**) between emotional regulation and occupational stress of nurses. Results of mediation analysis using PROCESS Macro by Hayes (2022) model-4 depicted significant indirect effect (mediating role) of emotional regulation for predicting the occupational stress from psychological flexibility for the sample of nurses. Psychological flexibility significantly predicted (β = .50**) the emotional regulation into positive direction, while emotional regulation significantly (β = -.22**) predicted occupational stress into the negative direction. Indirect effect (r = -.11**) for the mediation model tested through emotional self-regulation for psychological flexibility and occupational stress of nurses is also significant.

Conclusion: In study concluded that the protective role of psychological flexibility for predicting occupational stress operates indirectly through emotional regulation of nurses. Nurses who have higher perceived psychological flexibility will have higher self-perceived emotional self-regulation, which will lead to lower perception of their occupational stress.