Burnout and work ability: A study on mental health of Chinese seafarers from the job demand resource model perspective

Previous studies have shown that seafarers’ mental health problems can have a serious impact on maritime safety. This study aims to identify the multiple factors related to seafarers' mental health and thus develop a mental health management model. We propose a conceptual framework based on the job demand resource (JD-R) model to integrate and extend previous studies to better understand, explain, and predict the relationships among relevant factors (such as the environment and burnout). Survey data from four large-scale crew service companies were collected with ethnic approval. The results showed that the environment may play a pioneering role in the JD-R model. Seafarers' job demands are negatively correlated with job resources; that is, under a high workload, it is difficult for seafarers to make full use of their work resources and exhibit low engagement and high burnout. Job burnout, engagement, and job safety are all related to turnover intention, while job unsafety may further promote turnover intention. This framework can be applied to help shipping companies and policymakers design feasible intervention strategies to improve the mental health of seafarers and enhance navigational safety.