Int.J.Environ.Res.PublicHealth2015,12,1-xmanuscripts;doi:10.3390/ijerph120x0000xOPENACCESSInternationalJournalofEnvironmentalResearchandPublicHealthISSN1660-4601www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerphArticleTheMediatingRoleofPsychologicalCapitalontheAssociationbetweenOccupationalStressandJobBurnoutamongBankEmployeesinChinaXiruiLi1,DanKan2,LiLiu1,MengShi3,YangWang1,XiaoshiYang1,JianaWang1,LieWang1andHuiWu1,*1DepartmentofSocialMedicine,SchoolofPublicHealth,ChinaMedicalUniversity,No.77PuheRoad,ShenyangNorthNewArea,Shenyang110013,China;E-Mails:lixirui1004@sina.cn(X.L.);liul@mail.cmu.edu.cn(L.L.);allylove666@yahoo.com.cn(Y.W.);yangxiaoshi@mail.cmu.edu.cn(X.Y.);jiana0818@163.com(J.W.);liewang@mail.cmu.edu.cn(L.W.)2TheFirstHospitalofChinaMedicalUniversity,No.155NanjingbeiRoad,HepingDistrict,Shenyang110001,China;E-Mail:kandan30@163.com3DepartmentofEnglish,ChinaMedicalUniversity,No.77PuheRoad,ShenyangNorthNewArea,Shenyang,China;E-Mail:815915804@qq.com*Authortowhomcorrespondenceshouldbeaddressed;E-Mail:wuhui@mail.cmu.edu.cn;Tel.:+86-24-2325-6666(ext.5404).AcademicEditor:PaulB.TchounwouReceived:12November2014/Accepted:2March2015/Published:Abstract:Althoughjobburnoutiscommonamongbankemployees,fewstudieshaveexploredpositiveresourcesforcombatingburnoutinthispopulation.ThisstudyaimstoexploretherelationshipbetweenoccupationalstressandjobburnoutamongChinesebankemployees,andparticularlythemediatingroleofpsychologicalcapital.Across-sectionalstudywasconductedinLiaoning,China,duringJunetoAugustof2013.Aquestionnairethatincludedtheeffort-rewardimbalancescale,thePsychologicalCapitalQuestionnaireandtheMaslachBurnoutInventory-GeneralSurvey,aswellasdemographicandworkingfactors,wasdistributedto1739employeesofstate-ownedbanks.Thisyielded1239effectiverespondents(467men,772women).AsymptoticandresamplingstrategiesexploredthemediatingroleofpsychologicalcapitalintherelationshipbetweenInt.J.Environ.Res.PublicHealth2015,122occupationalstressandjobburnout.Bothextrinsiceffortandovercommitmentwerepositivelyassociatedwithemotionalexhaustionanddepersonalisation.Meanwhile,rewardwasnegativelyassociatedwithemotionalexhaustionanddepersonalisation,butpositivelyassociatedwithpersonalaccomplishment.TherewasagenderdifferenceinthemediatingroleofPsychologicalcapitalontheoccupationalstress-jobburnout.Inmalebankemployees,Psychologicalcapitalmediatedtherelationshipsofextrinsiceffortandrewardwithemotionalexhaustionanddepersonalization;infemalebankemployees,itpartiallymediatedtherelationshipsofextrinsiceffort,rewardandovercommitmentwithemotionalexhaustionanddepersonalisation,aswellastherelationshipbetweenrewardandpersonalaccomplishment.PsychologicalcapitalwasgenerallyamediatorbetweenoccupationalstressandjobburnoutamongChinesebankemployees.Psychologicalcapitalmaybeapotentialpositiveresourceinreducingthenegativeeffectsofoccupationalstressonjobburnoutandrelievingjobburnoutamongbankemployees,especiallyfemalebankemployees.Keywords:jobburnout;occupationalstress;psychologicalcapital;bankemployees1.IntroductionJobburnout(burnout)isanindividualreactiontoemotionalandinterpersonalstressandisrelatedtoworkpressureandoccupationalstress[1].Burnoutcomprisesthethreedimensionsofemotionalexhaustion,depersonalisationandpersonalaccomplishment[2].Emotionalexhaustionisanegativestateofexcessiveemotionalconsumptionandlackofenergy.Depersonalisationisanegative,in...