Psychological Well-Being, Dispositional Hope, and Contentment with Life Among Public Hospital Physicians in Türkiye's Black Sea Region: A Cross-Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND

Physicians work under demanding conditions that may affect their psychological functioning and evaluations of life. Positive psychological resources, particularly dispositional hope, may be relevant to the association between psychological well-being and contentment with life. This study examined these constructs and their indirect association through dispositional hope among physicians working in public hospitals in Türkiye's Black Sea region.

METHODS

A cross-sectional online survey was conducted between July and December 2024 with a convenience sample of 918 physicians. Validated Turkish versions of the Psychological Well-Being Scale, Dispositional Hope Scale, and Contentment with Life Assessment Scale were administered. An unadjusted indirect-association analysis was performed using PROCESS Model 4 with reliability-adjusted errors-in-variables estimation and 5000 bootstrap samples.

RESULTS

The mean scores were 37.30 ± 7.46 for psychological well-being, 45.00 ± 7.65 for dispositional hope, and 19.90 ± 5.14 for contentment with life. Psychological well-being was positively correlated with dispositional hope (r = 0.582) and contentment with life (r = 0.645), while dispositional hope was positively correlated with contentment with life (r = 0.465; all p < 0.001). Psychological well-being was positively associated with dispositional hope (β = 0.60, B = 0.62, SE = 0.08, 95% CI [0.45, 0.78], p < 0.001; R2 = 0.360). In the outcome model, psychological well-being (β = 0.46, B = 0.38, SE = 0.05, 95% CI [0.28, 0.47], p < 0.001) and dispositional hope (β = 0.34, B = 0.28, SE = 0.08, 95% CI [0.12, 0.44], p < 0.001) were positively associated with contentment with life. Together, psychological well-being and dispositional hope explained 45.5% of the variance in contentment with life (R2 = 0.455). The total association was statistically significant (B = 0.56, SE = 0.04, 95% CI [0.48, 0.63], p < 0.001), as was the indirect association through dispositional hope (β = 0.21, B = 0.18, BootSE = 0.02, 95% bootstrap CI [0.14, 0.23]).

CONCLUSIONS

Psychological well-being, dispositional hope, and contentment with life were positively associated. Hope showed a significant indirect association, but the cross-sectional, unadjusted model does not support causal inference. Longitudinal multicenter studies are needed.