Gender differences in stress, satisfaction and mental wellbeing among general practitioners in England

Abstract

This paper attempts to compare job stress, job satisfaction and mental wellbeing of male and female general practitioners (GPs) from a questionnaire study. Female GPs showed positive signs of mental wellbeing in contrast with a normative group. Conversely, male doctors showed significantly higher anxiety and depression scores than the norm. Although there was no significant difference between male and female GPs in the job satisfaction scale both genders were unhappy about their rate of pay, hours of work and amount of work they do. Multivariate analysis disclosed three job stressors that were predictive of high levels of job dissatisfaction for both male and female GPs; these were: time pressure/interruptions, working environment/communication, career and goal achievement. This finding suggests that specific stress management programmes for both male and female doctors need to be initiated and evaluated. There may be substantial benefit in providing a counselling service for male and female doctors who suffer psychological pressure from their work.