Mental health challenges and work engagement: The results from a cross-sectional study of Norwegian priests

Abstract

Priests’ professional demands are many and varied. To experience work engagement, it is likely particularly important to have adequate job resources when dealing with Mental Health Challenges (MHC). Hence, we sought to compare the occurrence of work engagement in priests with and without MHC and to study the associations between work resources and work engagement. Eight hundred and four priests completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, and self-reported measurements of job demands and job resources. A significant percentage of the priests (71.4%) were highly engaged in their jobs, particularly those without MHC. Work engagement was associated with job resources and not with job demands as described in the job demand resource theory. The high level of work engagement among priests should be considered a positive asset for the Norwegian Church. Thus, the Church should preserve this engagement by maintaining a working environment with adequate job resources. Given the high incidence of MHC among priests, it may be beneficial to focus specifically on the job resources needed for this group to maintain work engagement.