Date of Award

January 2012

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Sociology

First Advisor

Krista Lynn Minnotte

Abstract

The medical industry is the fastest growing job sector and is projected to be the largest job sector by 2018. This group of workers tends to experience heightened stressors in the workplace. The key purpose of this study was to address whether work-to-life conflict mediates the relationship between workplace characteristics and psychological distress for workers in the medical industry. Drawing on data from the 2002 National Study of the Changing Workforce (N = 329), relationships were explored using stepwise OLS regression analysis. Findings from the first model (which excludes the mediating variable of work-to-life conflict) suggest that as both coworker and supervisor support decrease, psychological distress increases. Model one also suggests that as job pressure increases, psychological distress increases. Model two shows that the relationships between both job pressure and coworker support and psychological distress become non-significant when the work-to-life conflict variable is introduced, suggesting that work-to-life conflict mediates the relationship between both job pressure and coworker support and psychological distress. Findings also show that the direct relationship between supervisor support and psychological distress remained significant with addition of work-to-life conflict. Implications of findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.

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