Exploring the effect of job demands and resources on psychological resilience of occupational therapists

Background: The job demands and resources model is a planning and management approach used to manage job demands/resources effectively. Resilience may be affected by an imbalance between occupational therapists' job demands and resources. Objective: This study investigated the relationship between job demands/resources and occupational therapists' resilience. Methods: Ninety-four occupational therapists (aged between 22 and 32 years) participated in the study. Occupational therapists completed the Demographic Information Form, the Job Demands and Resources Scale and the Resilience Scale. Results: The resilience scores of occupational therapists were positively correlated with personal development opportunities (p < 0.001), workload (p = 0.005), emotional demands (p = 0.004), and emotional dissonance (p = 0.004). The independent variables of job demands and resources explained 30% of the variance in resilience (F = 7.853, p = 0.001, R = 0.555, R2 = 0.309, Durbin-Watson = 2.018). The contribution of personal development opportunity (p < 0.001) and emotional dissonance (p = 0.010) variables to the model showing the effect of resilience on the total score was statistically significant (p < 0.001). Conclusions: These results suggest that occupational therapists' strategies for managing job demands and resources may affect their resilience levels and should be carefully considered.