A study of resiliency among Chinese health care workers: Capacity to cope with workplace stress

This paper reports a study of resiliency to cope with workplace stress among Chinese health care workers. We adopted a qualitative–quantitative-biomarker approach to conduct interviews, focus group discussions, and a two-wave longitudinal survey. Wave 1 survey was conducted among health care workers in Hong Kong and Mainland China (N=773). Amongst them, 287 took part in Wave 2 survey. A confirmatory factor analysis consistently supported a 9-item scale. A sub-sample’s (N=33) resiliency was positively related to salivary IgA levels (an immune marker). Results from hierarchical regressions demonstrated that resiliency measured in Wave 1 was positively related to job satisfaction, work-life balance, and quality of life; and negatively related to physical/psychological symptoms and injuries at work in Wave 2.