Measures to Improve the Mental Health of Construction Personnel Based on Expert Opinions
Publication: Journal of Management in Engineering
Volume 38, Issue 4
Abstract
Increasing rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide in the construction industry have drawn the attention of researchers to consider mental health as an integral part of health and safety. However, prior research has focused mainly on determining the sources of work stress, with a paucity of studies related to measures to improve mental health. This study aims to fill this gap by evaluating the mix of measures within an integrated approach that can be adopted to promote good mental health. Surveys were collected from 62 construction experts based in 4 countries. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, structural equation modeling (SEM), and a post-survey interview. SEM showed that secondary intervention measures such as those focused on healthy coping and individual resilience do not necessarily mitigate mental health stressors; it also signals the importance of including primary intervention measures in a workplace mental health intervention. These findings highlight intervention measures that could be implemented to create a psychologically healthy workplace. These measures can guide policy-making to boost job satisfaction, mental health, safety, and performance. Furthermore, these results provide a compass for building construction organizations to determine which measures are yet to be implemented in their workplaces and need to be explored.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
This research is part of a doctoral study financially facilitated by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Thus, studies that share related backgrounds but with different scopes and methodologies may be produced.
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Journal of Management in Engineering
Volume 38 • Issue 4 • July 2022
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© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 19, 2021
Accepted: Jan 21, 2022
Published online: Mar 17, 2022
Published in print: Jul 1, 2022
Discussion open until: Aug 17, 2022
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