Abstract:

Nursing is one of the most psychologically demanding professions, yet the mechanisms linking individual resources to occupational stress remain only partially understood.

The present study examined whether psychological capital (PsyCap) mediates the relationship between deviation from a balanced time perspective (DBTP-r) and occupational stress among nurses. A cross-sectional diagnostic survey was conducted between January and March 2025 among 254 practicing female nurses aged 23–60 (M = 42.2), working in primary health care, hospital wards, nursing care facilities, and emergency departments. Instruments used were the Work Stress Scale (PSwP; α = 0.87), the Polish version of the Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PCQ; α = 0.89), and the shortened Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI-15), from which the DBTP-r index was computed. Spearman's rank-order correlations were used, followed by a bias-corrected bootstrap mediation analysis controlling for age, length of service, education, workplace, and work schedule.

Psychological capital correlated negatively with both occupational stress and DBTP-r. It also significantly mediated the DBTP-r–stress relationship: the total effect was B = 3.074 (95% CI [2.008, 4.096]), the indirect effect B = 1.178 (95% BC CI [0.629, 1.853], β = .144, p < .001), and the direct effect remained significant (B = 1.896, p < .001), indicating partial mediation accounting for roughly 38% of the total effect. Greater deviation from a balanced time perspective is thus associated with higher occupational stress among nurses, partly through depleted psychological capital.