Moderated Mediation Effect of Mindfulness on the Relationship Between Muscular Skeletal Disease, Job Stress, and Turnover Among Korean Firefighters

Jong-Hyun Lee; Jaeeun Lee; Kyung-Sun Lee

doi:10.1016/j.shaw.2020.03.006

Moderated Mediation Effect of Mindfulness on the Relationship Between Muscular Skeletal Disease, Job Stress, and Turnover Among Korean Firefighters

Saf Health Work. 2020 Jun;11(2):222-227. doi: 10.1016/j.shaw.2020.03.006. Epub 2020 Apr 3.

Authors

Jong-Hyun Lee¹, Jaeeun Lee², Kyung-Sun Lee³

Affiliations

¹ Social Science Research Institute, College of Social Sciences, Ajou University, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon, Republic of Korea.
² Department of Adult Learning and Counselling, Sangji University, Wonju-si, Gangwon-do, Republic of Korea.
³ Department of Industrial Health, Catholic University of Pusan, Geumjeong-gu, Busan, Republic of Korea.

Abstract

Background: This study investigated the effect of increased job stress, caused by musculoskeletal disease (MSD) among firefighters, on a firefighter's intention to leave the profession, henceforth referred to as "turnover intention," and verified the moderating effect of mindfulness on such a relationship.

Methods: A survey involving a total of 549 Korean male firefighters as participants was conducted herein, and the following results were obtained: the mediation effect of the MSD to turnover intention through job stress was confirmed, and the indirect effect of job stress was verified.

Results: We verified the moderated mediation effect of mindfulness on the relation:MSD, job stress, and turnover intention. The conditional indirect effect for middle and high levels of mindfulness is significant.

Conclusion: The result of this study is supported by proofs of the relationship between a firefighter's MSD, job stress, and turnover intention, and these case studies reveal the moderated mediation effect of dispositional mindfulness.

Keywords: Firefighter; Job stress; Mindfulness; Moderated mediation effect; Musculoskeletal disease.