Abstract
Background:
Lawyers are exposed to a multitude of stressors; hence, a high proportion of them experience mental health issues and dissatisfaction with their jobs. However, no data compare these parameters in private and public sector lawyers from India.
Aim:
To compare mental health status, perceived stress, and job satisfaction in public versus private sector lawyers.
Materials and Methods:
Thity participants, each from lawyers working in the public and private sectors in Chandigarh, were recruited and administered a sociodemographic scale, General Health Questionnaire 12, Cohen’s Perceived Stress Scale, and Generic Job Satisfaction Scale.
Results:
73% and 60% of participants scored more than two on GHQ in the public and private sector groups, respectively. A significantly higher (90%) proportion of lawyers working in the public sector experienced high levels of stress when compared with lawyers working in the private sector (63%). A negative correlation between stress levels and job satisfaction was observed in both groups.
Conclusion:
Lawyers experience high levels of stress and mental health issues, with stress being more prevalent in public sector lawyers. There is a negative correlation between stress levels and job satisfaction in private and public sector lawyers.
Keywords: Job satisfaction, lawyers, mental health, stress
The legal system holds a great responsibility to maintain law and constitutional principles. Lawyers are the backbone of this system, working relentlessly to keep this pillar in place. While doing so, they are constantly subjected to a highly stressful work environment. Stress is when one feels overwhelmed due to a mismatch between capacity and demands.[1] Stress is known to affect physical[2] and mental health[3] in a negative way and can affect job satisfaction[4] and impact productivity.[5,6] Few researchers from India have tried to study the mental health status and stress levels of lawyers working in different sectors in India. A cross-sectional study from Aurangabad examined anxiety, depression, and stress levels in 50 lawyers and reported that around 36% and 56% of lawyers experienced some level of depression and anxiety, respectively.[7] Similarly, few other studies that have looked at stress levels in lawyers have also reported high-stress levels in this population.[8,9] A comparison of stress levels in civil and criminal lawyers revealed that the stress experienced by criminal lawyers is much higher than that of civil lawyers.[9] In another study, female lawyers reported comparatively higher stress levels.[7] Another study examined levels of job satisfaction and its correlates among judicial personnel and reported that stress negatively correlated with job satisfaction.[10] Job satisfaction is a worker’s level of contentedness with his or her job.[11] Low levels of job satisfaction can lead to reduced productivity in the workplace.[12]
Both stress and job satisfaction depend on many common factors such as working hours, nature of the job, work environment, relation with peers at work, and a bidirectional relationship.[12,13] Both these factors can affect workplace productivity. Stress levels can influence the mental health of lawyers, which in turn can hamper their capacity to work. In the case of lawyers, this can hurt the community; hence, it is important to study these parameters. Since it is assumed that the nature of the aforementioned factors will differ in the public and private sectors, there is likely a difference between mental health status, stress levels, and job satisfaction in lawyers working in these sectors. Only a handful of studies have looked at stress levels, mental health status, and job satisfaction among lawyers from India separately. None of the studies have examined these parameters or tried to study the difference between private and public sector lawyers. Hence, we planned to study and compare mental health status, stress levels, and job satisfaction levels in lawyers working in the private versus public sector.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
This cross-sectional, analytical study was carried out at the psychiatry department of a tertiary care hospital attached to a medical college. The project received approval from the Institutional Ethics Committee. All the participants gave written informed consent.
Sample
Lawyers of any gender and in the age group 20–55 years, working in both the public and private sector in Chandigarh, were approached in District Court by one of the investigators and explained the purpose of the study, after which a written informed consent form was obtained. In addition, they were asked to bring in more participants using the snowballing method. Lawyers with a history of psychiatric disorders or taking psychotropic medications at present were excluded. Those refusing to give consent were also excluded.
Tools
Sociodemographic proforma
Sociodemographic details were noted on a specially designed proforma for this study
General health questionnaire (GHQ-12)
GHQ-12 is a 12-item questionnaire used most commonly for screening of psychiatric disorders in primary health care. It has been widely used and has high sensitivity and specificity. A cutoff score of 2 was taken as being positive for a mental health issue. The Cronbach’s α coefficient of the GHQ-12 was 0.892.[14]
Cohen’s perceived stress scale (PSS-10)
PSS-10, used in this study, is one of the most commonly used tools to estimate stress levels in research studies. It is a Likert scale with a total score ranging from 0 to 40; a higher score indicates a higher stress level. A score of 0 to 13 was taken as low stress, 14 to 26 as moderate stress, and 27 to 40 as high stress. The scale has a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.79. It has moderate to strong concurrent validity with other measures of stress, such as the depression scale, anxiety scale, and GHQ.[15]
Generic job satisfaction scale (GJSS)
The GJSS comprises 10 items rated on a 1 to 5 Likert scale. A higher score is indicative of higher job satisfaction. A score of 39 to 41 indicates high job satisfaction, and a score greater than 41 indicates very high job satisfaction. The scale showed acceptable internal consistency with Cronbach’s α of 0.77.[16]
Statistical analysis
Data analysis was performed using SPSS. Descriptive analysis used mean and standard deviation for continuous variables. Frequency and percentages were computed for discontinuous variables. Chi-square was used to compare the presence or absence of psychological morbidity, high/very high and average/low job satisfaction, and high/low/moderate stress in lawyers working in the private versus public sector. Pearson’s Product Moment correlation analysis was performed to estimate the correlation among scores on GHQ-12, PSS, and JJSS.
RESULTS
The study included 30 lawyers each from the public and private sectors. Public sector lawyers were slightly older (mean age 38.6 years) than private sector lawyers (mean age 35.3 years). In both groups, the participants were primarily graduate, married men from urban backgrounds. The two groups did not differ concerning mean years of experience [Table 1].
Table 1.
Sociodemographic characteristics of private and public sector lawyers
| Characteristics | Public Sector Lawyers (n=30) | Private Sector Lawyers (n=30) |
|---|---|---|
| Age | 38.6 years | 35.3 years |
| Sex:Male | 27 (90%) | 28 (93%) |
| Marital Status:Married | 22 (73.3%) | 18 (60%) |
| Education: LLB | 26 (86.7%) | 23 (76.6%) |
| Locality:Urban | 25 (83%) | 26 (86%) |
| Years of experience | 7.5 years | 7 years. |
Table 2 compares lawyers working in the public versus private sector concerning the positivity rate on GHQ-12, degree of satisfaction as per GJSS, and degree of perceived stress as per PSS. No significant difference was observed concerning the positivity rate on GHQ-12, with 73% and 60%, respectively, in the two groups having a GHQ-12 score equal to or greater than 2. Although the proportion of lawyers reporting low/average levels of job satisfaction was 40% in public sector lawyers and 20% in private sector lawyers, the difference was not statistically significant. However, the number of lawyers experiencing a high degree of stress as against low/moderate stress tended to be significantly more (90%) in lawyers working in the public sector when compared with lawyers working in the private sector (63%).
Table 2.
Comparison of GHQ-12, perceived stress, and job satisfaction in lawyers working in public versus private sector
| Scales | Private Sector Lawyers (n (%)) | Public Sector Lawyers (n (%)) | Chi square/P |
|---|---|---|---|
| GHQ | |||
| Positive Negative |
22 (73) 8 (27) |
18 (60) 12 (40) |
2.5 (0.09) |
| Job satisfaction | |||
| Low/Average High/Very High |
6 (20) 24 (80) |
12 (40) 18 (60) |
2.8(.07) |
| Perceived Stress | |||
| Low/Moderate High |
11 (37) 19 (63) |
3 (10) 27 (90) |
7.5 (0.02)* |
*P<0.05
Overall, the sample observed a significant negative correlation between job satisfaction and perceived stress (r = 0.43; P = 0.01). This relationship was also significant in public and private sector lawyers [Table 3].
Table 3.
Correlation between job satisfaction and perceived stress in lawyers working in public versus private sector
| Population | Pearson Coefficient | P |
|---|---|---|
| All Lawyers | -0.432 | 0.01* |
| Public Sector Lawyers | -0.237 | 0.02* |
| Private Sector Lawyers | -0.532 | 0.003** |
**P<0.005; *P<0.05
DISCUSSION
In this study, 30 lawyers working in the public and private sectors were evaluated to assess and compare their mental health status, stress levels, and job satisfaction levels. The results showed that private and public sector lawyers were comparable in sociodemographic variables except for a slightly higher age of layers in the public sector. As the mean years of experience were similar in the two groups, the higher age of public sector lawyers could be due to difficulty and delay in getting a government sector job.
In this study, the GHQ was positive in 73 percent and 60 percent of private and public sector lawyers. These are alarmingly high figures indicating that a large proportion of lawyers in both the public and private sectors are experiencing mental health issues. There has been only one study from India that has looked at mental health issues in lawyers with a validated scale.[7] The study used the DASS scale in 50 lawyers and reported scores on DASS to be in the abnormal range in 38, 56, and 44 percent of lawyers for depression, anxiety, and stress, respectively. In our study, abnormal scores were present in an even higher number of lawyers. This can be explained by the fact that the two studies were conducted in different populations and used different scales. Our findings are in agreement with Western studies. Depression was observed in 28% of attorneys, which was more than three times the rate in the general population. 46% of lawyers reported suffering depression at some point in their careers. Anxiety was found in 19% of lawyers, and 23% were under stress. From 1999 to 2007, suicide was the third leading cause of death among lawyers but only the tenth leading cause among the general population. Lawyers were 54% more likely to commit suicide than people in other professions. About 21% and 36% of the lawyers had an alcohol problem, which was three to five times higher than the general population.[17,18,19]
Past studies evaluating the stress level of lawyers have reported a high-stress level.[8,9] Studies examining the relationship between stress and job satisfaction have found an inverse relationship.[10,17] Most important sources of occupational pressure among lawyers were home and work imbalance, managerial roles, insufficient recognition, managerial roles, and hassles.[20] Our study reported that many lawyers working in the private and public sectors reported high-stress levels. However, it was significantly higher in those working in the public sector. Concerning job satisfaction, while a larger proportion in both the groups had high or very high levels of job satisfaction, it was seen that the proportion of lawyers reporting low/average levels of job satisfaction was 40% in public sector lawyers and 20% in private sector lawyers. Our study observed a negative correlation between job satisfaction and stress levels in both groups.
Stress and job satisfaction depend on factors like salary, work–life balance, relationship with colleagues,[12,13] etc., which may differ in both groups. It is a general assumption that the private sector is more stressful than the public sector; however, in our study, a higher proportion of lawyers in the public sector were found to be under high-stress levels compared with lawyers working in the private sector. The slightly lower job satisfaction level may contribute to higher stress levels in public sector lawyers. However, other factors must contribute to high-stress levels in public sector lawyers.
Limitations
Our study was a cross-sectional study in nature and from a single city, and the sample size was modest. The results were based on rating scales, and no psychiatric evaluation was performed.
CONCLUSION
Our study reported that lawyers experience high levels of stress and mental health issues, with stress being more prevalent in public-sector lawyers. There is a negative correlation between stress levels and job satisfaction in private and public sector lawyers.
Future directions
Studies on a more extensive group of lawyers from different cities in India are warranted to understand the relationship between mental health, stress levels, and job satisfaction in lawyers in different sectors. Future studies should also study different parameters that influence mental health, stress levels, and job satisfaction in lawyers. Nonetheless, based on the findings of this study, it is recommended that occupational mental health centers should be set up to mitigate stress and help lawyers and the community at large.
Authors’ contributions
Concept, design, literature search: NM, Data acquisition: NM, ST, Statistical analysis: EG, Manuscript preparation: NM, GK, JS, Manuscript editing and manuscript review: EG, SC, NM, ST.
Data availability statement
Data will be available upon reasonable request.
Conflicts of interest
There are no conflicts of interest.
Funding Statement
Nil.
REFERENCES
- 1.Ursin H. The development of a cognitive activation theory of stress: From limbic structures to behavioral medicine. Scand J Psychol. 2009;50:639–44. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9450.2009.00790.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 2.Cohen S, Janicki-Deverts D, Miller GE. Psychological stress and disease. JAMA. 2007;298:1685–7. doi: 10.1001/jama.298.14.1685. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 3.Slavich GM, Irwin MR. From stress to inflammation and major depressive disorder: A social signal transduction theory of depression. Psychol Bull. 2014;140:774–815. doi: 10.1037/a0035302. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 4.Ahsan N, Abdullah Z, Fie DY, Alam SS. A study of job stress on job satisfaction among university staff in Malaysia: Empirical study. Eur J Soc Sci. 2009;8:121–31. [Google Scholar]
- 5.Mori K, Nagata M, Nagata T. Work-related factors affecting the occurrence of presenteeism – recent research trends and future directions. J UOEH. 2021;43:61–73. doi: 10.7888/juoeh.43.61. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 6.Shahu R, Gole SV. Effect of job stress and job satisfaction on performance: An empirical study. AIMS Int J Manag. 2008;2:237–46. [Google Scholar]
- 7.Shete AN, Garkal KD. Legally unhappy: Psychological distress in legal practitioners. IOSR J Dent Med Sci. 2016;15:129–32. [Google Scholar]
- 8.Smitha KC. Occupational stress among public prosecutors in Kerala. Int J Creat Res Thoughts. 2022;10:10–5. [Google Scholar]
- 9.Hasnain N, Naz I, Bano S. Stress and wellbeing of lawyers. J Indian Acad Appl Psychol. 2010;36:165–8. [Google Scholar]
- 10.Patel KA, Rajderkar SS, Naik JD, Behere VS. A study of certain correlates of job satisfaction among judicial personnel in a district of Western Maharashtra. Indian J Occup Environ Med. 2014;18:68–74. doi: 10.4103/0019-5278.146894. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 11.Yaman F, Yaman M. The effect of job stress and feeling of entrapment on perceived task performance and the mediating role of job satisfaction in the scope of organizational sustainability. Open J Bus Manag. 2023;11:11–30. [Google Scholar]
- 12.Elwork A. 3rd. North Wales, PA: Vorkell Group; 2007. Stress Management for Lawyers: How to Increase Personal and Professional Satisfaction in the Law. [Google Scholar]
- 13.Costa MFAA, Ferreira MC. Sources and reactions to stress in Brazilian lawyers. Paidéia (Ribeirão Preto) 2014;24:49–56. [Google Scholar]
- 14.Zhong X, Jin X, Yan L, Yang L, Long H, Wang J, et al. Reliability and validity of general health questionnaire-12 in Chinese dental healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Front Psychiatry. 2022;12:792838. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.792838. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 15.Lee E-H. Review of the psychometric evidence of the perceived stress scale. Asian Nurs Res. 2012;6:121–7. doi: 10.1016/j.anr.2012.08.004. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 16.Macdonald S, MacIntyre P. The generic job satisfaction scale: Scale development and its correlates. J Empl Assist. 1997;13:1–16. [Google Scholar]
- 17.Krill PR, Johnson R, Albert L. The prevalence of substance use and other mental health concerns among American attorneys. J Addict Med. 2016;10:46–52. doi: 10.1097/ADM.0000000000000182. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 18.Brody DJ, Pratt LA, Hughes JP. Prevalence of Depression Among Adults Aged 20 and Over: United States, 2013–2016. NCHS Data Brief. 2018:1–8. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 19.Krause CA, Chong J. Lawyer wellbeing as a crisis of the profession. South Carolina Law Rev. 2019;71:203–45. [Google Scholar]
- 20.Teichmann M, Kattel K, Murdvee M, Kerikmäe T. Sources of occupational pressure among lawyers and legal professionals. Int Comp Law Rev. 2015;15:87–107. [Google Scholar]
Associated Data
This section collects any data citations, data availability statements, or supplementary materials included in this article.
Data Availability Statement
Data will be available upon reasonable request.