Objective  To investigate relationships among turnover intention, occupational stress and trait coping style and to explore mediating role of trait coping style on the correlation between occupational stress and turnover intention among employees in centers for disease control and prevention (CDCs).

  Methods  A network-based survey was conducted during July – September 2020 among 2 201 professionals recruited with random cluster sampling at 21 CDCs at various administrative levels in Jiangsu province. A general questionnaire, Core Occupational Stress Scale (COSS), Trait Coping Style Questionnaire (TCSQ), and a turnover intention scale developed by other researches were adopted in the survey. Statistical analyses were performed with SPSS 22.0.

  Results  Valid information were collected from 2 036 respondents. Among all the respondents, the median score (25th percentile, 75th percentile) was 42.0 (37.0, 48.0) for COSS, 6.0 (1.0, 13.0) for TCSQ, and 2.0 (1.3, 2.5) for turnover intention. The turnover intention score was correlated positively with COSS dimension scores of organization-reward (correlation coefficient r = 0.46) and demand-effort (r = 0.22) but inversely with the dimension scores of social support (r = – 0.38) and independence (r = – 0.08) and the score of TCSQ (r = – 0.442). The results of mediating effect analysis revealed mediating effect of trait coping style on the correlation of turnover intention with occupation stress′s dimension variables of social support (effect value = 0.0237, the value′s 95% confidence interval 95% CI: 0.0193 – 0.0287; effect percentage = 26.60%) , organization-reward (effect value = 0.0158, 95% CI: 0.0127 – 0.0189; effect percentage = 21.94%), and demand-effort (effect value = 0.0161, 95% CI: 0.0117 – 0.0207; effect percentage = 31.88%).

  Conclusion  The trait coping style could exert mediating effect on the correlations of turnover intention with occupation stress-related social support, organization-reward and demand-effort among professionals in disease control and prevention institutions. The improvement in trait coping style may reduce the professional′s turnover intention.