ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Mental Health
This article is part of the Research TopicPromoting Mental Health among Healthcare ProfessionalsView all 6 articles
Indecent work perception and burnout among psychiatric nurses: the mediating role of emotion regulation
Provisionally accepted
- 1Wenzhou Seventh Peoples Hospital, Wenzhou, China
- 2Wenzhou People's Hospital, Wenzhou, China
- 3Zhejiang Kangjing Hospital, Hangzhou, China
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Background: Psychiatric nursing is characterized by high levels of occupational burnout, with indecent work perceptions emerging as a significant contributing factor. However, the psychological mechanisms underlying this relationship remain poorly understood. This study examined the mediating role of emotion regulation in the relationship between indecent work perception and burnout among psychiatric nurses. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in June 2024 among 195 psychiatric nurses from a psychiatric hospital in Wenzhou, China. Data were collected using self-report questionnaires assessing demographic characteristics, indecent work perception, emotion regulation, and burnout. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, multiple linear regression, and structural equation modeling with bootstrapping procedures to test mediation effects. Results: The sample comprised psychiatric nurses with a mean age of 30.12 years and 8.04 years of occupational experience. All three dimensions of indecent work perception were positively associated with burnout, with working position concerns showing the strongest association (β = 0.39, p < 0.001). The overall model explained 61% of the variance in burnout scores. Mediation analysis revealed that cognitive reappraisal significantly mediated the relationship between indecent work perception and burnout (indirect effect = 0.02, 95% CI [0.01, 0.03], p < 0.001), accounting for approximately 17% of the total effect. In contrast, expressive suppression did not demonstrate significant mediation (indirect effect = 0.001, 95% CI [-0.002, 0.003], p = 0.87). Conclusions: Indecent work perception is an important risk factor for burnout among psychiatric nurses, and diminished use of cognitive reappraisal partly meditates this association. These findings highlight the need for organizational interventions that enhance recognition and career development opportunities, alongside individual-level strategies that strengthen adaptive emotion regulation skills. Addressing both contextual and psychological factors may be critical for reducing burnout and promoting sustainable professional development in psychiatric nursing.
Keywords: Psychiatric Nursing, burnout, indecent work perception, Emotion Regulation, cognitive reappraisal
Received: 22 Sep 2025; Accepted: 03 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Tang, Wang, Pan, Zheng, Xu, Jin, Zhang and Lin. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Zhengzhou Zhang, zhengzhounurse@163.com
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