LIFESTYLE, ROLE CONFLICT, GOAL CONFLICT, PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS, AND SOMATIC COMPLAINTS: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY IN MEDICAL DOCTORS

The present study examined the contribution of lifestyle, role conflict and goal conflict on psychological distress (viz., emotional exhaustion and depressive symptoms) and physical symptoms (somatic complaints) of medical doctors employed at a Dutch academic hospital, using the integrated model of occupational stress. The main objective of this study was to investigate whether lifestyle, role conflict and goal conflict were significantly associated with emotional exhaustion, depressive symptoms and somatic complaints, and whether lifestyle played a moderating role in the association between those stressors and the outcome variables. The study also examined potential age and gender differences. The results showed that role conflict was significantly associated with emotional exhaustion, depressive symptoms and somatic complaints, whereas goal conflict predicted emotional exhaustion and depressive symptoms. Lifestyle significantly contributed to all outcome variables. Lifestyle played a moderating role in the association between role conflict and emotional exhaustion and between role conflict and depressive symptoms. Age predicted somatic complaints and gender was significantly related to depressive symptoms and somatic complaints. The results showed that a healthy lifestyle can help medical doctors deal with role conflict and consequently be less prone to suffer from emotional exhaustion and depressive symptoms. This finding can have important implications for health promotion programs in health care settings. Besides, this finding supports the integrated model of occupational stress, according to which, modifying variables, such as lifestyle, are key to understanding psychological distress and well-being in medical doctors.