Occupational Stressors and Mental Health-Related Quality of Life Among Hospital Nurses in Northern Border Region Saudi Arabia: A Multi-Site Cross-Sectional Study.

AIM: To examine the association between occupational stress and mental health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among nurses in the Northern Border Region of Saudi Arabia and to determine whether this relationship varies across professional and clinical subgroups.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional, correlational study.

METHODS

A stratified sample of 257 registered nurses and nurse managers was recruited from three hospitals in the Northern Border of Saudi Arabia (53.2% female, 86.0% staff nurses and 44.0% with > 10 years of experience). Occupational stress was assessed using a culturally adapted and forward-backward translated version of the Nursing Stress Scale (NSS), which measures seven stress domains. Mental HRQoL was evaluated using the Mental Component Summary (MCS) of the 12-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12). Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, independent samples t-tests, one-way analysis of variance with post hoc comparisons, Pearson correlations and four-step hierarchical linear regression.

RESULTS

The mean MCS score was 52.01 (SD = 8.12), slightly above the SF-12 normative mean of 50. All seven occupational stress domains were significantly and negatively associated with MCS scores (r = -0.22 to -0.33, all p < 0.001). Workload was the highest-rated stressor (M = 2.91, SD = 0.65), whereas nurse-physician conflict demonstrated the strongest inverse correlation with mental HRQoL (r = -0.33). The final hierarchical regression model explained 34% of the variance in MCS scores (R2 = 0.34, adjusted R2 = 0.30). Occupational stress domains contributed an additional 15% of explained variance beyond demographic and professional characteristics (ΔR2 = 0.15, F-change [7, 244] = 7.85, p < 0.001). No significant interaction effects were identified.

PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: No Patient or Public Contribution.