The Interaction of Occupational Stress and Job Burnout on Depressive Symptoms in Railway Workers in Fuzhou City

Background: To explore the relationship between occupational stress, burnout and depressive symptoms among railroad workers in Fuzhou, and to analyze the interaction of burnout and occupational stress on depressive symptoms.

Methods: In this study, 861 railway employees of Fuzhou railway bureau were randomly selected from January to April, 2022. Occupational stress inventory revised edition (OSI-R), China job burnout inventory (CMBI) and Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90) were used to investigate the occupational stress, job burnout and depressive symptoms of railway workers. Interactions associated with depressive symptoms were assessed by linear hierarchical regression analysis and SPSS macros (PROCESS).

Results: Occupational stress, job burnout and depressive symptoms accounted for 50.58%, 93.47%, and 11.19% of the study population, respectively. There were intergroup differences between age, marriage status, and length of service (P < 0.05). Occupational stress and job burnout are the main risk factors for depressive symptoms (OR: 2.01, 95% CI: 1.17-3.45; 1.94, 1.69-2.23, respectively). More importantly, further analysis of the interaction between occupational stress and job burnout showed that those with high levels of job burnout had a high-risk effect on depressive symptoms at high levels of occupational stress.

Conclusion: Occupational stress and job burnout are risk factors for depressive symptoms among railroad workers in Fuzhou City. The interaction of job burnout and occupational stress increases the risk of depressive symptoms.