The relationship between job satisfaction and mental health in healthcare professionals: a scoping review

ANTONY BOLOGNA1, TOMMASO BARLATTANI1, VALENTINA SOCCI1, ELEONORA SAPONE1, RAFFAELE LA RUSSA2, FERDINANDO ROMANO3, FRANCESCA PACITTI1, EDOARDO TREBBI3

1Department of Biotechnological and Applied Clinical Sciences (DISCAB), University of L’Aquila, Coppito (L’Aquila), Italy; 2Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences (MESVA), University of L’Aquila, Coppito (L’Aquila), Italy; 3Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.

Summary. The well-being and performance of healthcare professionals in non-emergency settings are significantly influenced by job satisfaction and mental health. This scoping review aims to provide an overview of the relationships between job satisfaction and mental health in healthcare professionals. A comprehensive literature search identified 24 relevant cross-sectional studies conducted in various countries, including Australia, Brazil, and the United States. The studies included a diverse range of healthcare workers, such as physicians, nurses, and nurse managers. Most studies report that higher job satisfaction is associated with better mental health outcomes, while lower job satisfaction is linked to symptoms of anxiety, depression, burnout, and psychosomatic complaints. The association emerges across professions and countries, although its strength varies according to organizational and contextual factors. These findings indicate that monitoring job satisfaction may help identify early vulnerability to mental health problems among healthcare staff. Interventions that improve working conditions and recognition of professional roles can enhance satisfaction and reduce the risk of psychopathological outcomes. Clinically, these patterns reflect dimensions of psychological distress (e.g., emotional exhaustion, anxiety, depressed mood), suggesting that brief workplace screening and early support may be warranted. Given that the included studies are predominantly crosssectional, causal inferences remain tentative and future longitudinal research is needed to clarify directionality and trajectories.

Key words. Anxiety, burnout, depression, healthcare workers, job satisfaction, mental health, psychopathology.

La relazione tra soddisfazione lavorativa e salute mentale negli operatori sanitari: una scoping review.

Riassunto. Il benessere e la performance degli operatori sanitari in contesti non emergenziali sono fortemente influenzati dalla soddisfazione lavorativa e dalla salute mentale. La presente scoping review ha l’obiettivo di fornire una panoramica delle relazioni tra soddisfazione lavorativa e salute mentale negli operatori sanitari. Una ricerca bibliografica sistematica ha identificato 24 studi trasversali condotti in diversi Paesi, tra cui Australia, Brasile e Stati Uniti. Gli studi hanno coinvolto una vasta gamma di operatori sanitari, tra cui medici, infermieri e nurse manager. La maggior parte degli studi riporta che livelli più elevati di soddisfazione lavorativa sono associati a migliori esiti di salute mentale, mentre livelli più bassi si collegano a sintomi di ansia, depressione, burnout e disturbi psicosomatici. Questa associazione emerge trasversalmente tra professioni e Paesi, sebbene la sua forza vari in base a fattori organizzativi e contestuali. Questi risultati indicano che il monitoraggio della soddisfazione lavorativa può contribui-re a identificare precocemente la vulnerabilità a problemi di salute mentale tra il personale sanitario. Interventi mirati a migliorare le condizioni lavorative e il riconoscimento dei ruoli professionali possono aumentare la soddisfazione e ridurre il rischio di esiti psicopatologici. Dal punto di vista clinico, tali pattern rispecchiano dimensioni di sofferenza psicologica (per es., esaurimento emotivo, ansia, umore depresso), suggerendo l’utilità di uno screening breve sul luogo di lavoro e di un supporto precoce. Poiché gli studi inclusi sono prevalentemente trasversali, le inferenze causali restano cautelative; sono necessari studi longitudinali per chiarire direzionalità e traiettorie.

Parole chiave. Ansia, burnout, depressione, operatori sanitari, psicopatologia, salute mentale, soddisfazione lavorativa.

Introduction

Job satisfaction has long attracted the attention of work and organizational psychology1. One of the earliest definitions was given by Vroom2, who described job satisfaction as «affective orientations toward work roles which individuals are presently occupying». Locke3 defined job satisfaction as «any number of psychological, physiological, and environmental circumstances which lead a person to express satisfaction with their job». Weiss4 defined it as «a pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one’s job experiences». Newstrom5 described job satisfaction as «a set of favourable or unfavourable feelings and emotions with which employees view their work». Despite differences, these definitions converge on the idea that job satisfaction reflects how individuals experience and evaluate their work.

The link between job satisfaction and mental health has been the subject of continuous research. The complex relationship between an individual and their work context has been a subject of growing scientific interest6-9. In psychiatry, this connection is of particular relevance, as low job satisfaction is associated with psychopathological manifestations such as anxiety, depression, burnout, and psychosomatic symptoms.

Studies have examined how work context and personal characteristics influence psychological well-being10-15, while more recent findings highlight the direct impact of these dynamics on performance and health outcomes16,17. Clarifying this relationship is essential not only to support occupational well-being but also to prevent the emergence of psychopathological symptoms in healthcare professionals18. Emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and jobrelated worry map onto mood and anxietyspectrum phenomena; moreover, the conceptual boundary between burnout and depressive syndromes remains debated19. In parallel, emerging digital demands can generate technostress that may erode job satisfaction and amplify distress in healthcare workflows20. Brief validated tools such, as the MiniZ, can support routine screening of burnout and stress in clinical settings and facilitate timely interventions21.

Although many studies have addressed job satisfaction and mental health, few have provided an integrated overview. This scoping review aims to fill that gap, focusing on healthcare professionals working in non-emergency conditions.

Methods

A comprehensive literature search was conducted in PubMed up to July 19, 2024. Articles were identified using Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) with the following search string: (((((“Job Satisfaction” [Mesh]) AND “Medical Staff, Hospital” [Mesh]) OR “Health Personnel” [Mesh]) OR “Occupational Health” [Mesh]) AND “Mental Health” [Mesh]) NOT “COVID-19” [Mesh]

The aim of this review was to clarify the relationship between job satisfaction and mental health among healthcare professionals working in non-emergency settings. The review was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR)22,23. Consistent with PRISMAScR guidance, we conducted a narrative synthesis and did not undertake formal risk of bias appraisal or meta-analysis given the predominantly cross sectional designs and measurement heterogeneity across studies. Our choice also aligns with recent psychiatric applications of scoping reviews that mapped complex and rapidly evolving topics underscoring the suitability of this design for heterogeneous literatures24 Eligible studies reported associations between job satisfaction and mental health outcomes, including stress, anxiety, depression, burnout, resilience, psychosomatic symptoms, or overall well-being. Studies were included if they involved healthcare professionals, regardless of job role. Studies not addressing both job satisfaction and mental health, and those not published in English, were excluded. In line with the scoping review design, no formal quality appraisal was performed. Systematic reviews, meta-analyses, narrative reviews, editorials, commentaries, books, letters to the editor, and case reports with fewer than ten participants were also excluded.

Two reviewers independently screened all eligible publications; one extracted the data and the other verified it. Extracted information included authorship, study location, sample size and type, professional group, study aims, assessment instruments, publication type, and main findings. The narrative synthesis was organized by professional category (physicians, nurse managers, nurses, gynecologic oncologists, midwives, laboratory technicians, and hospital departments), and the results were summarized in tables by healthcare profession. 

Search results

The initial PubMed search yielded 5,440 records, of which two were duplicates. A total of 738 records were excluded because the full text was not available. Of the remaining 4,700 full-text records, 3,962 were excluded as irrelevant to the study aims.

A total of 738 full-text articles were assessed for eligibility, and 145 were excluded for not meeting the inclusion criteria (10 meta-analyses, 29 systematic reviews, 36 narrative reviews, 24 editorials, 12 books, 11 commentaries, 7 letters to the editor, and 16 non-English articles). Of the 593 articles assessed for eligibility, 569 were excluded due to insufficient information.

Ultimately, 24 studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in this scoping review. The selection process is illustrated in figure 1.




Narrative overview

Al the included studies were cross-sectional and conducted across 20 countries in Europe, North America, Asia, Africa, and Oceania. The samples involved a wide range of healthcare professionals, including physicians (n=7), nurse managers (n=1), nurses (n=3), gynecologic oncologists (n=1), midwives (n=1), and laboratory technicians (n=1). In addition, three studies compared different hospital departments, involving multiple professions rather than focusing on a single occupational group. Full details on study location, sample characteristics, and instruments are reported in tables 1-7. Integrative comment across professional groups. Across roles (physicians, nurses, nurse managers, midwives, gynecologic oncologists, laboratory technicians, and mixed hospital staff), the association between higher job satisfaction and lower psychological distress appears consistent, while role specific vulnerabilities emerge: long working hours and on call duties among physicians; staffing levels and supervisory support among nurses; workload and end of life exposure among oncologists; insomnia and somatic complaints among laboratory technicians; and department level differences in anxiety and depression within hospital samples.

Physicians

Studies on physicians were carried out in Brazil, Canada, Japan, Poland, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States (table 1)25-31.







In Brazil, Ribeiro et al.30 studied 232 physicians, although their specialties were not specified. Job satisfaction was assessed with a single-item 4-point Likert question, mental health with the 20-item Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ), and alcohol use with the CAGE (Cut-down, Annoyed, Guilty, Eye-opener) questionnaire.

Thommasen et al.26 studied 127 Canadian physicians working in northern British Columbia. Mental health outcomes included depressive symptoms, assessed with the 21-item Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and burnout, measured with the 22-item Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). Job satisfaction was evaluated with the Job Satisfaction Scale (7-point Likert). Physician specialties were not specified.

A Japanese study by Tokuda et al.28 included 236 physicians. Job satisfaction was assessed with the 28-item Japan Hospital Physicians Satisfaction Scale (JHPSS, 5-point Likert), while mental health was evaluated with the General Health Questionnaire – 12 items (GHQ-12) and the MBI. Information on physician specialties was not provided.

Niewiadomska et al.31 conducted a study on 701 Polish physicians from specialties such as internal medicine, pediatrics, family medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, and otolaryngology. Job satisfaction was measured with the 17-item Four Corner Satisfaction Scale (4CornerSAT, 7-point Likert), and mental health with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale – 14 items (HADS-14), which includes 7 items for anxiety and 7 for depression.

A Swiss study27 involved 1,732 physicians. Job satisfaction was assessed with a 17-item instrument that included one general question (“Please indicate how satisfied you are with the following aspects of your professional life”) and several specific items (e.g., intellectual stimulation at work, enjoyment at work), rated on a 5-point Likert scale (1= extremely dissatisfied, 5= extremely satisfied). Mental health was measured with the SF-12 and the MBI. The sample included 824 general practitioners, 436 internists, 162 pediatricians, 147 internal medicine specialists, and 163 physicians without specialty qualification.

In the United Kingdom, Ramirez et al.25 studied 1,133 hospital consultants, including 299 gastroenterologists, 252 surgeons, 260 clinical radiologists, and 322 oncologists. Mental health was measured with the GHQ (5-point scale) and the MBI. Job stress and satisfaction were assessed with ad hoc measures: a global item (“Overall, how stressful/satisfying do you find your work?”) rated on a 5-point scale (0-4), and detailed lists of 25 sources of stress and 17 sources of satisfaction, each rated on a 4-point scale (0-3).

In the United States, Williams et al.29 studied 1,735 physicians, although their specialties were not specified. Job satisfaction was assessed with a 5-item scale developed by Konrad et al.32, stress with the 4-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), physical health with a single item rated from poor to excellent, and mental health with three single items covering burnout, anxiety, and depression.

Across the available studies, physicians reported variable levels of job satisfaction, ranging from low26 to moderate25,29 and high25,27. In several investigations, however, the degree of satisfaction was not specified28,30,31.

All studies reported psychological distress among physicians (e.g., anxiety, depressive symptoms, burnout), and the potential overlap with depressive syndromes should be considered when interpreting burnout findings19.

In the United Kingdom, 27% of hospital consultants had GHQ-12 scores indicating psychiatric morbidity25. Anxiety symptoms were observed in the Polish and Brazilian samples30,31, while depressive symptoms were reported in Canada, Poland, and Brazil26,30,31. The Polish study also showed a subgroup with both anxiety and depression31. In Brazil, 4.7% of participants reported problematic alcohol use30. Burnout levels were generally low in Switzerland27 and affected 19% of Japanese physicians28.

The Japanese path analysis highlighted that job satisfaction correlated positively with job control and negatively with long working hours and on-call service. Emotional exhaustion was negatively influenced by job satisfaction and, in turn, predicted poor mental health and depersonalization, with gender differences in the impact of sleep and on-call duty28. Other studies confirmed the negative association between job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion25-27.

While Ribeiro et al.30 found no association between job satisfaction and mental health, most studies reported either direct25-27,29,31 or indirect relationships28. For instance, Ramirez et al.25 observed that higher job satisfaction was associated with lower emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, even at similar stress levels. Similarly, Bovier et al.27 showed that lower emotional exhaustion was linked to greater well-being and satisfaction. Niewiadomska et al.31 reported that anxiety and depression predicted lower satisfaction, while Thommasen et al.26 found that depressive symptoms and burnout correlated negatively with satisfaction.

Taken together, these findings consistently indicate that high job satisfaction is associated with better mental health among physicians, whereas low satisfaction is linked to anxiety, depression, burnout, and other forms of psychological distress.

Nurse manager

In the United States, Cooper et al.33 studied 144 nurse managers (table 2).




Job satisfaction was assessed with a 6-item Job Satisfaction Scale (JSS, 5-point Likert), mental health with the 48-item Crown-Crisp Experiential Index (CCEI: anxiety, phobias, somatic anxiety, obsessions, depression, hysteria), and occupational stress with the 71-item Occupational Stress Questionnaire (OSQ, 5-point Likert).

The authors reported moderate job satisfaction and generally good mental health, but also high levels of work-related stress. Job satisfaction was positively predicted by managerial role and negatively by years of service, while no significant association was found between job satisfaction and mental health.

Nurse

Three studies investigated nurses: one in Italy and the Netherlands, one in the Netherlands only, and one in Morocco (table 3)34-36.







Pisanti et al.35 examined 609 Italian and 873 Dutch nurses. Job satisfaction was assessed with the 7-item Leiden Quality of Work Life Questionnaire for Nurses (LQWLQ-N), burnout with the MBI, and psychosomatic symptoms with the Symptom Checklist – 90 items (SCL-90).

Meeusen et al.34 studied 882 Dutch nurse anaesthetists. Job satisfaction was measured across three dimensions (general satisfaction; satisfaction with departmental climate; satisfaction with organizational climate) on a 4-point Likert scale. Psychosomatic symptoms were assessed with the Permanent Study of Living Conditions (POLS), which covers seven symptoms: anxiety, fatigue, back and muscle pain, insomnia, gloom, and headache; burnout was measured with the MBI.

In Morocco, Alahiane et al.36 studied 223 nurses. Job satisfaction was assessed with a single item on a 10-point scale, mental health with the HADS-14, and quality of life with the SF-12.

Across the three studies, nurses reported moderate levels of job satisfaction, with some variability between countries. Pisanti et al.35 found that Italian nurses showed lower job satisfaction compared to their Dutch colleagues, while Alahiane et al.36 reported moderate satisfaction among Moroccan nurses. Meeusen et al.34 provided a mean score of 2.79 ± 0.55, although the interpretation of this value was not clearly explained.

Regarding mental health, several difficulties emerged. In the Dutch study, more than half of the sample reported two or more psychosomatic symptoms34. In Morocco, nurses showed anxiety and mild depressive symptoms according to the HADS-1436. In the cross-national comparison, Italian nurses reported fewer mental health problems than the Dutch sample35.

The relationship between job satisfaction and mental health was consistent across studies. In Morocco, job satisfaction correlated positively with both physical and mental quality of life, and higher quality of life was associated with lower anxiety and depression36. In the Dutch and Italian study, good perceived mental health predicted higher job satisfaction, while burnout and psychosomatic complaints predicted lower satisfaction35. Meeusen et al.34 similarly reported that burnout and psychosomatic symptoms were negatively associated with satisfaction.

Organizational factors also played a significant role. In addition, emerging digital demands may contribute to technostress, which has been linked to reduced productivity and greater strain in other sectors and is increasingly relevant to healthcare workflows20.

High job demands, low job control, and low supervisory support were linked to lower satisfaction, greater emotional exhaustion, and more psychosomatic problems. Conversely, factors such as skill discretion, supervisor support, financial rewards, and decision authority were positively associated with job satisfaction, whereas time pressure and emotional exhaustion showed negative associations35.

Taken together, these findings indicate that while job satisfaction among nurses is generally moderate, it is strongly influenced by organizational conditions and is inversely related to burnout and psychosomatic distress.

Gynecologic oncologists

In Australia, Stafford and Judd37 studied 29 gynecologic oncologists (table 4).




Job satisfaction and sources of stress were assessed with questionnaires adapted from Ramirez, including 25 items on job satisfaction and 8 items on stress. Coping strategies were measured with 21 approaches rated on an 11-point scale (0= “not important” to 10= “essential”). Mental health was evaluated with the GHQ-12, the MBI, and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT).

Most participants reported high job satisfaction, high levels of personal accomplishment, moderate-to-high emotional exhaustion, and low depersonalization. Psychological morbidity was present in 17.2% of the sample, and almost half reported consuming alcohol more than four times per week. The main sources of stress included problems at home, time conflicts, and patient load. Stress management strategies most often involved finding meaning in work, maintaining a positive outlook, and adopting a constructive philosophy toward end-of-life care.

Job satisfaction was positively related to responsibility, financial compensation, job security, and career advancement opportunities, and negatively related to patient follow-up and the number of new patients seen per week. Oncologists over the age of 50 reported lower job satisfaction. Emotional exhaustion correlated positively with stress and negatively with personal learning opportunities and attendance at small group meetings for stress management. The personal accomplishment dimension was negatively related to stressors such as keeping up with research and applying for scholarships, as well as to the quality of patient relationships. Overall, high stress levels were associated with psychological morbidity and elevated emotional exhaustion.

Midwives

Jarosova et al.38 conducted a multinational study of 1,175 midwives from the Czech Republic (n=260), Italy (n=173), Poland (n=176), Portugal (n=114), Singapore (n=100), the Slovak Republic (n=208), and South Korea (n=159) (table 5).




Job satisfaction was assessed with the 31-item McCloskey/Mueller Satisfaction Scale (MMSS), covering eight dimensions on a 5-point Likert scale, and subjective well-being with the Positive Affect Scale (happiness, joy, pleasure, physical fitness) and the Negative Affect Scale (guilt, anxiety, sorrow, pain, shame, anger) on a 6-point Likert scale.

Levels of job satisfaction differed across countries: midwives in Singapore reported the highest satisfaction, followed by those in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Italy, South Korea, Poland, and Portugal. For positive affect, Italian midwives scored the highest, followed by those in South Korea, Poland, Singapore, the Czech Republic, Portugal, and Slovakia. Negative affect was most pronounced among Polish midwives, followed by those in the Czech Republic and Portugal, with lower levels reported in Italy, Singapore, Slovakia, and South Korea.

Job satisfaction dimensions showed mild positive correlations with positive affect and mild negative correlations with negative affect. In particular, the domains of control/responsibility, extrinsic rewards, and coworker relations positively predicted positive affect, whereas control/responsibility negatively predicted negative affect.

Laboratory technicians

In Taiwan, Lee et al.39 studied 145 laboratory technicians (table 6).




Psychological distress was assessed with the 5-item Brief Symptom Rating Scale (BSRS-5), covering anxiety, depression, hostility, inferiority, and insomnia, and job satisfaction with the 40-item Job Satisfaction Questionnaire (JSQ-40), which evaluates job characteristics, salary and wages, health promotion, professional growth, and interpersonal support, all rated on 5-point Likert scales.

A substantial proportion of participants reported psychological morbidity, including insomnia (28.4%), depression (25.4%), hostility (24.6%), anxiety (23.1%), and inferiority (20.2%). Moreover, 39.3% of the sample reported low job satisfaction. Correlation analyses showed that lower BSRS-5 scores (indicating fewer symptoms) were associated with higher JSQ-40 scores, suggesting that better mental health corresponded to greater job satisfaction.

Hospital departments

Four studies investigated job satisfaction and mental health across hospital departments in Germany, Hungary, Singapore, and the United Kingdom (table 7)40-43.







In Germany, Treusch et al.43 studied 169 hospital staff from surgery, internal medicine, orthopaedics, emergency, geriatrics, neurology, oncology, and other units. Job satisfaction was measured with the 30-item Kurzfragebogen zur Erfassung von Allgemeiner und Facettenspezifischer Arbeitszufriedenheit (KAFA; 5-point Likert), and mental health with the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale - 21 items (DASS-21; 4-point Likert).

Piko40 examined 201 Hungarian healthcare workers, including nurses (n=130), assistant physicians (n=40), administrators (n=9), and other staff. Job satisfaction was assessed with a 4-item scale (3-point Likert), role conflict with a 4-item instrument (1= rarely – 5= very often), psychosomatic symptoms with a 4-point scale (0= never – = often), and burnout with the 22-item MBI.

Picco et al.41 investigated job satisfaction and positive mental health in 462 Singaporean healthcare professionals (58 doctors, 201 nurses, 203 allied health staff). Job satisfaction was assessed with a single 10-point item, and mental health with the 47-item Positive Mental Health (PMH) scale (1= not like me – 6= exactly like me), which evaluates coping, emotional support, spirituality, interpersonal skills, personal growth, and global affect.

A UK study by Harris et al.42 included 26 healthcare assistants (n=11) and nurses (n=15). Job satisfaction was measured with the 36-item JSS, and burnout with the Maslach Burnout Inventory – Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS; 22 items).

Overall, these studies reported moderate to high job satisfaction. In Germany, satisfaction was highest among staff in surgery, internal medicine, emergency, geriatrics, and oncology43. Regarding mental health, moderate emotional exhaustion and depersonalization were found in the Hungarian and UK studies, with differences in personal accomplishment (moderate in Harris et al.42; low in Piko40). Treusch et al.43 also reported no anxiety or depression in most departments, except for mild depression in neurology and geriatrics and moderate-to-severe anxiety in orthopaedics.

Three studies confirmed that job satisfaction correlated positively with mental well-being40,41,43. In Hungary, higher satisfaction was linked to greater personal accomplishment, while in Singapore higher PMH scores reflected better well-being. Job satisfaction was inversely related to emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. In the UK study, the association between job satisfaction and mental health was less clear42.

Conclusion, implication, and future direction

This scoping review aimed to provide an overview of the relationship between job satisfaction and mental health among healthcare professionals working in non-emergency settings.

The findings indicate that most healthcare professionals reported moderate to high job satisfaction and generally good mental health. Conceptually, core socialcognition constructs, like emotion recognition, theory of mind/mentalizing, and attributional style, shape daytoday interactions with patients, colleagues, and supervisors; difficulties in these domains can undermine communication quality, perceived supervisory support, and therapeutic alliance, thereby reducing job satisfaction and amplifying psychological distress among healthcare staff24. High job satisfaction was consistently associated with lower levels of psychological distress, including anxiety, depression, burnout, and psychosomatic complaints, across different professional groups.

This association has been observed across studies conducted in different countries and time periods, suggesting a stable pattern.

In practical terms, these findings suggest several actionable steps: integrate brief, validated screening for job satisfaction and burnout into routine occupationalhealth monitoring (e.g., the MiniZ)21; strengthen job control, supervisory support, staffing levels, and recognition; mitigate digital load and technostress through training, workflow/usability improvements, and protected focus time20; and provide stepped psychological support (peer support, brief interventions, clear referral pathways) for staff reporting low satisfaction or high distress.

Clinicians should also keep in view the debated boundary between burnout and depressive syndromes to guide assessment and treatment decisions19.

Methodologically, the predominance of crosssectional designs limits causal inference, and the scarcity of longitudinal studies constrains clarity on whether job satisfaction precedes, follows, or coevolves with symptoms over time. For readability and precision, where appropriate we favour specific terms (e.g., “psychological distress”, “psychiatric symptoms”) over generic expressions and we shortened overly long sentences.

Moderate to high levels of job satisfaction were reported across most professional groups, including physicians25,27,29, nurse managers33, nurses35,36 gynecologic oncologists37, and midwives in several countries38. Similar findings emerged in studies of hospital departments, with particularly high satisfaction among staff in surgery, internal medicine, emergency, geriatrics, and oncology43.

Nevertheless, Italian nurses reported lower job satisfaction than their Dutch counterparts35, and about one-third of laboratory technicians expressed dissatisfaction with their work39. Despite generally moderate to high satisfaction, several studies highlighted poor mental health. Psychiatric morbidity was reported among physicians25 and gynecologic oncologists37.

Anxiety symptoms were identified in physicians30,31, nurses36, and laboratory technicians39. In hospital departments, anxiety was most prevalent among orthopaedic staff43. Depressive symptoms were reported among physicians26,30,31, nurses36, laboratory technicians39, and staff working in neurology and geriatrics43.

Additional findings include insomnia, hostility, and feelings of inferiority among laboratory technicians39; psychosomatic symptoms among nurses34; high levels of stressors among nurse managers33; and problematic alcohol use among physicians30 and gynecologic oncologists37. Burnout symptoms were observed among Japanese physicians28 and in staff working across different hospital departments40,42.

Studies employing the MBI consistently reported a negative association between job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, indicating that low satisfaction is associated with emotional numbing, frustration, and job worry, and thus with poorer mental health25,27,34,35,37. Job satisfaction was also inversely correlated with psychosomatic symptoms in nurses34,35, psychological morbidity in nurse managers37, and anxiety and depression in both nurses36 and physicians31.

Conversely, high job satisfaction was associated with positive outcomes, such as greater happiness, joy, and pleasure among midwives38, and with overall mental well-being in nurses35,41 and physicians41. Several studies highlighted moderating factors in the relationship between job satisfaction and mental health. Among physicians, good job control was positively associated with higher satisfaction and lower psychological distress28, whereas stress25, shorter sleep duration, and frequent on-call duties were negatively associated28. Gender differences were also noted: sleep duration did not affect men, while on-call duties did not significantly affect women28.

Among nurses, good quality of life (QoL) was associated with higher job satisfaction and lower levels of psychological distress36. In gynecologic oncologists, the most significant risk factor for poor mental health was work-related stress37. Pisani et al.35 demonstrated that external factors strongly influence job satisfaction and, consequently, nurses’ mental health. Positive predictors included skill discretion, supervisor support, financial rewards, work agreement, personnel resources, and decision authority, whereas time pressure emerged as a significant negative factor.

Taken together, the evidence underscores the importance of promoting both job satisfaction and mental health among healthcare professionals to support patients’ needs.

This review has some limitations. First, the wide variety of constructs and instruments used to assess job satisfaction, from single-item measures to multidimensional scales, limits the comparability and generalizability of findings. Similar issues apply to the assessment of mental health, where different instruments were employed across studies. Another limitation is the lack of measures capturing external factors that may positively or negatively influence job satisfaction.

This review highlights the complex relationship between job satisfaction and mental health. Future research should clarify this interplay by employing standardized and theoretically consistent instruments, which would enhance comparability and the generalization of findings. Longitudinal designs may also provide further insights into causal mechanisms and the role of contextual factors.

Author contributions: conceptualization and design were performed by ET, FP, TB, VS, and AB. Data extraction was conducted by AB and verified by TB and FP. Data analysis was performed by AB, TB and VS. The first draft of the manuscript was written by AB and all authors critically revised the work. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Conflict of interests: the authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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