Wellbeing and Occupational Stress in Dentistry Academics

Abstract

Occupational stress can impact adversely on individuals’ physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing, and have occupational consequences. Dentistry professionals can experience significantly higher levels of occupational stress, and poorer wellbeing, than other health professionals. Previous research on occupational stress among dentistry professionals has demonstrated differences by individual-level personal and professional characteristics, identified work content and work context sources of occupational stress, and indicated that dentists may not be able to relieve their stress properly. Previous research has, however, focused on dentistry clinicians and students, and less is known about dentistry academics who are likely to have different correlates and sources of occupational stress given differences in their occupational role. Therefore, this research program aimed to investigate occupational stress and wellbeing among dentistry academics including individual-level personal and professional characteristics associated with poor wellbeing, common sources of occupational stress and associations with poor wellbeing, and self-care activities and associations with wellbeing. This research program used a cross-sectional design with a convenience sample of academics in dentistry departments across nine universities in Australia and New Zealand. The thesis comprises three quantitative studies and examined data from an online survey to assess wellbeing, personal and professional characteristics, perfectionism, work content and context sources of occupational stress, and self-care activities. Data were analysed using multiple regression. A total of 119 people consented to the online survey, with 94 (78.9%) providing complete data. The average age of respondents was 50 (±11.7) years, 56.8% were men, and 67% had more than 10 years’ experience as an academic. Results demonstrated poor wellbeing among this group of dentistry academics, with an average score on the iii Psychological General Wellbeing Index (PGWBI) of 67.0±14.1. Lower scores were obtained on PGWBI dimensions of vitality (58.3±19.4), anxiety (62.0±16.9) and positive wellbeing (62.2±17.2) than other dimensions. Study one found a significant association between hours of undergraduate teaching and psychological wellbeing, after adjustment for age, gender, income, and overall health (F(6,79)=19.651, p<.001, adj.R2=.56). Dentistry academics doing more than six hours of undergraduate teaching per week had poorer wellbeing than their counterparts (rpb(92)=- .288, p=.005, age r(84)=.315, p<.005). There were no significant bivariate associations between perfectionism, or other personal and professional characteristics, and wellbeing. Study two found that the leading sources of “substantial” occupational stress were work overload (61% agreement), administration demands (55% agreement), multiple role demands (54% agreement), and time pressure at work (49% agreement). A multiple linear regression model comprising job future, workload and responsibility, job satisfaction, social support, time pressure at work, age, income management, and overall health significantly predicted psychological wellbeing, F(8,77)=13.141, p<.0001, adj.R2=.53, with no significant associations for any of the specific sources of stress with wellbeing. Study three found that the most common types of self-care done “frequently” were lifestyle (57.8%), exercise (44.4%), and recreational (44.4%) activities. The least frequent were intrapersonal activities (13.3%). The multiple linear regression model comprising self-care domains of intrapersonal, interpersonal, exercise, recreational, and professional activities, with adjustment for age, gender, income management, and overall health significantly predicted psychological wellbeing, F(9,76)=9.705, p<.0001, adj.R2=.53, with no statistically significant associations between any of the individual self-care activity domains and wellbeing. The findings of this research program contribute to evidence on occupational stress and wellbeing in dentistry academics and can inform workplace interventions. Results suggest that interventions to improve wellbeing in dentistry academics could prioritise those who are younger, with lower income, in poorer health, and/or teaching more than six hours of undergraduate teaching per week. These interventions could include individual-level and organisational-level strategies to help manage time pressure, work overload, administration demands, and multiple role demands; and increase social support and positive perceptions of job future and job satisfaction. Interventions could promote intrapersonal (e.g., gratitude, mindfulness), interpersonal (e.g., social support), and professional self-care activities (e.g., networking skills) given potentially low rates of these. Future research is warranted to extrapolate and confirm these findings with a larger sample, define the study sample homogeneously, and explore the impact of COVID-19 on sources of stress. Future research is also needed to provide a deeper exploration of ‘lived in’ experiences of dentistry academics related to aspects of undergraduate teaching that contribute to poor wellbeing, or specific aspects of the work role that contribute to work overload; and to explore other aspects of intervention delivery such as preferences for duration, frequency, and type of interventions. If successful, such workplace interventions could reduce the adverse physical, psychological, behavioural, and organisational consequences commonly associated with poor wellbeing and occupational stress among dentistry academics, as well as the financial burden of related compensations claims. In turn these interventions could promote mental and physical wellbeing, and quality of life, as well as organisational indicators such as staff morale and overall work performance and productivity. This work has not previously been submitted for a degree or diploma in any university. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the thesis itself.