Introduction: The mental health of employees is an important indicator of occupational health and the success of workplaces. This issue is more important for working women who also have family responsibilities. In this study, the predictors of mental health of female faculty members at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences were studied according to their personal and occupational characteristics.
Methods: The present cross-sectional study was conducted on 196 female faculty members working at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences with a stratified sampling proportional to the volume. The data collection tool included the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) and a researcher-made questionnaire to measure personal, family and occupational characteristics. The data were analyzed using independent t-tests, analysis of variance, Pearson correlation and stepwise linear regression.
Findings: The results showed that the mental health of female faculty members is related to their job satisfaction and organizational support (p <0.05). In this way, lower levels of job satisfaction, lack of organizational support, contractual employment status, and assistant professor academic rank are significant predictors of decreased mental health and increased anxiety symptoms and impaired social functioning. Also, a significant negative correlation was observed between increased work experience and psychological symptoms (p <0.05).
Conclusion: Mental health management in the study group requires interventions related to increasing organizational support and job satisfaction. It is recommended that universities help reduce psychological stress and improve the quality of work life of faculty members by focusing on improving job satisfaction and creating a supportive environment.