Objective: To study the relationship of coping behavior and mental health of military medical researchers and technicians.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted, using the self-rating anxiety scale (SAS), self-rating depression scale (SDS), and self-rating scale of coping behavior, among 325 military medical laboratory scientists and technicians with different professional titles.
Results: The anxiety and depression scores of the military medical researchers and technicians were 30 +/- 6 and 37 +/- 8 respectively, both significantly lower than those of the national norm (34 +/- 6 and 42 +/- 11 respectively, both P < 0.01). The depression score of the associate chief technicians was 42 +/- 7, significantly higher than those of the medical researchers and technicians with any other professional titles (all P < 0.05), and the anxiety score of the associate chief technicians was 32 +/- 7, significantly higher than that of the research fellows (28 +/- 4, P < 0.05). The seeking help score of the associate chief technicians was 2.8 +/- 0.5, not significantly different from that of the associate research fellows (2.8 +/- 0.5), but significantly lower than those of the military medical researchers and technicians with any other titles (all P < 0.01). The self-blame score of the associate chief technicians was 1.9 +/- 0. 6, significantly higher than that of the assistant research fellows (1.0 +/- 0.6, P <0.01) and that of the research fellows (1.6 +/- 0.6, P <0.05). Correlation and regression analysis showed that active coping behaviors were significantly positively correlated with depression (r1 = -0.519) and anxiety (r3 = -0.348); and negative coping behaviors were significantly negatively correlated with depression (r2 = 0.314) and anxiety (r4 = 0.407).
Conclusion: Coping behavior has significant influence on the medical researchers and technician. Increasing seeking help and decreasing self-blame and imagination help release the anxiety and depression among the medical researchers and technicians.