The relationship between the leadership style of administrators and the mental health of employees of healthcare centers of Isfahan University, Iran

Healthcare centers are one of the vital substrates contributing to individual health in society. In order to provide efficient services to the community, it is essential to maintain an optimal level of mental health in employees. The present study aims to assess the relationship between the leadership styles of administrators and the mental health status of employees in the healthcare centers of Isfahan.
The descriptive study sample consisted of 217 employees of 18 health centers, selected through stratified cluster random sampling from among 500 personnel using the Morgan table. This study was conducted from September to January 2013. The research tools were Multi-factor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) and Goldberg Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28). Data were analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics and Pearson correlation coefficient test by SPSS software.
Our findings showed that there is no significant relationship between the leadership style of administrators and the mental health of employees (P=0.399). Also, there is no significant relationship between transformational, transactional, and Laissez faire leadership styles and mental health (P=0.247, P=0.139 and P=0.403 respectively).
According to our findings, it seems that other factors than the leadership style of administrators contribute to the mental health of employees. Educational workshops can be used for improving the mental health of the staff.