Resumen

ANSOLEAGA, Elisa  y  TORO, Juan Pablo. Mental health and nature of work: when the emotional demands becomes inevitable. Rev. Psicol., Organ. Trab. [online]. 2014, vol.14, n.2, pp.180-189. ISSN 1984-6657.

BACKGROUND: work in services and particularly work that involves assisting persons is characterized by high emotional demands. OBJECTIVE: To describe the emotional demands and effects on the mental health of workers at a public institution in Chile whose work is particularly demanding in the use of emotions. METHOD: In a cross-sectional design, a survey was applied to 77% of the institution's staff. The survey included an emotional demands scale and a screening of distress and depressive symptoms. Prevalences and differences based on several demographic and work-related dimensions were described. The association between exposure to emotional demands and the likelihood of having depressive symptoms or high distress were reported. RESULTS: Higher prevalences were found than those reported in the general population for both the emotional demands of the work and the mental health outcomes reported. CONCLUSION: the hypothesis that the nature of the work that presents high emotional demands has negative effects on mental health. Hence, concerns about the mental health of people who work in these types of jobs should be a priority, and therefore, diligent measures are necessary to prevent the onset of mental health problems in these settings.

Palabras clave : emotional work; mental health; nature of work; emotional demand.

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