OCCUPATION AND HEALTH ›› 2026, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (20): 2827-2832.

• Treatise—Epidemiology and Preventive Health Care • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Current status of the career plateau of highly educated doctors in grade-A tertiary hospitals in Harbin City and the chain mediating effect of hardiness and perceived social support

CHEN Yingyi, FU Chunfeng, SONG Zilong, MA Tongxing, ZHAO Jingnan, LIU Liping()   

  1. The First Psychiatric Hospital of HarbinHarbinHeilongjiang 150056, China
  • Received:2025-11-18 Revised:2026-03-06 Online:2026-10-15 Published:2026-09-14
  • Contact: LIU Liping,E-mail:jian.ai05@163.com

Abstract:

Objective To understand the current status of career plateau among highly educated doctors in grade-A tertiary hospitals in Harbin City,and analyze the role of their hardiness and perceived social support in the relationship between career plateau and subjective career success. Methods From October 2023 to January 2024,424 highly educated doctors were randomly selected as survey subjects from several municipal grade-A tertiary comprehensive hospitals in Harbin City. The survey was conducted using the general information questionnaire,career plateau scale,hardiness scale,perceived social support scale,and subjective career success scale,and the data were analyzed. Results The total score for the career plateau of highly educated doctors was (51.79±12.87)points,the total score for hardiness was (78.85±11.37)points,the total score for perceived social support was (62.63±11.35)points,and the total score for subjective career success was (50.92±7.94)points. Highly educated doctors' career plateau was negatively correlated with hardiness,perceived social support and subjective career success(r=-0.537,-0.471,-0.358,all P<0.01),hardiness was positively correlated with perceived social support and subjective career success(r=0.543,0.512,both P<0.01),and perceived social support was positively correlated with subjective career success(r=0.519,P<0.01). Hardiness and perceived social support played a chain mediating role between career plateau and subjective career success,accounting for 22.4% of the total effect. Conclusion The career plateau of highly educated doctors in some municipal grade-A tertiary comprehensive hospitals in Harbin City is at a moderate level. Hardiness and perceived social support serve as chain mediators between career plateau and subjective career success,helping to buffer the negative impact of career plateau and enhance the subjective career success of highly educated doctors.

Key words: Career plateau, Hardiness, Perceived social support, Subjective career success, Occupational mental health, Doctors

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