Relationship among personality traits, intensity of stress, and Yang-Xu body constitution in adult ICU nurses

Abstract

<p>Session presented on Saturday, July 23, 2016 and Sunday, July 24, 2016:</p> <p><strong>Purpose:</strong> The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship among personality traits, the intensity of stress, and Yang-Xu body constitution among adult intensive care unit (ICU) nurses.</p> <p><strong>Methods:</strong> A cross-sectional survey was conducted and 202 adult ICU nurses were recruited from four hospitals in central Taiwan. A questionnaire with good reliability and validity was used. The questionnaire includes the Chinese version of Eysenck personality traits Questionnaire-Revised Short Scale (CEPQ-RS), the intensity of stress, the Yang-Xu body constitution Questionnaire (BCQ+),and demographic data. The internal consistency values of the personality traits, intensity of stress, and Yang-Xu constitution scales were 0.77-0.78, 0.93, and 0.93 using Cronbach's Alpha coefficient. The BCQ+ questionnaire aims to assess the energy level of bodily functions.</p> <p><strong>Results:</strong> All data were statistical analyzed using the SPSS 19.0 statistical software. The mean age of the 202 participants was 27.82+/-4.87. Approximate half (52.2%) of the ICU nurses reported a working duration of less than 6 years. The average score of Yang-Xu constitution was 42.09, with 151 participants (74.8%) being higher than cutoff score of 30.5. We applied a structural equation model to the relationship among Yang-Xu constitution and the variables of interest. Results showed the intensity of stress in adult ICU nurses being negatively correlated with extraversion and positively with neuroticism. Yang-Xu Body constitution was found to be positively correlated with intensity of stress. We found the intensity of stress to mediate or partially mediate the association between extraversion, neuroticism, and Yang-Xu body constitution in adult ICU nurses.</p> <p><strong>Conclusion:</strong> A high intensity of stress in adult ICU nurses was significantly correlated with personality traits and consequently significantly resulted in the Yang-Xu body constitution. The results suggest that nursing managers can screen the personality traits of nurses before enrolling adult ICU nurses. It is also recommended that stress-adaptation and health promote education courses be provided to adult ICU nurses as a preventive measure for Yang-Xu body constitution.</p>