Is Job Insecurity Worse for Mental Health Than Having a Part-time Job in Canada?

Objectives:A growing number of people depend on flexible employment, characterized by outsider employment status and perceived job insecurity. This study investigated whether there was a synergistic effect of employment status (full-time vs. part-time) and perceived job insecurity on major depressive disorder.Methods:Data were derived from the 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey-Mental Health of 12 640 of Canada’s labor force population, aged 20 to 74. By combining employment status with perceived job insecurity, we formed four employment categories: full-time secure, full-time insecure, part-time secure, and part-time insecure.Results:Results showed no synergistic health effect between employment status and perceived job insecurity. Regardless of employment status (full-time vs. part-time), insecure employment was significantly associated with a high risk of major depressive disorder. Analysis of the interaction between gender and four flexible employment status showed a gender-contingent effect on this link in only full-time insecure category. Men workers with full-time insecure jobs were more likely to experience major depressive disorders than their women counterparts. Conclusions:This study’s findings imply that perceived job insecurity may be a critical factor for developing major depressive disorder, in both men and women workers.     

Gender and Work Stress: Differential Exposure and Vulnerability

Three work conditions have evidenced consistent relationships to health-related outcomes: control, demands, and job complexity. Most studies of work stress involve samples of male workers. The hypothesis of differential vulnerability contends that women would be more responsive than men to work stressors. The differential exposure hypothesis proposes that there is no gender difference in the effects of work stressors, but patterns of occupational segregation increase women's exposure to detrimental job conditions. Previous studies of gender differences in responses to work stress are equivocal, indicating both similarity and highly specific differences. This study explores gender differences in the effects of work conditions on psychological distress and self-medication. Job satisfaction and perceived job stress are specified as mediating variables. The results do not support the hypothesis of general differential vulnerability. The only gender difference observed indicates that women are less responsive than men to job demands.     

Workplace characteristics and work disability onset for men and women

Summary Objectives: This paper investigates the association between job characteristics and work disability among men and women in older working ages in the United States. We examine whether the association persists when controlling for major chronic disease experience. We also address whether job characteristics are ultimately associated with the receipt of disability benefits.Methods: Data are from the Health and Retirement Survey and are nationally representative of noninstitutionalized persons 51–61 in 1992. Disability onset is estimated using a hazard modeling approach for those working at wave 1 (N=5999). A logistic regression analysis of disability benefits is based on a risk set of 525 persons who become work-disabled before the second interview.Results: Womens disability onset and health problems appear less related to job characteristics than mens. For men, work disability is associated with stressful jobs, lack of job control, and environmentally hazardous conditions but is not associated with physical demands. Participation in disability benefit programs among those with work disability is unrelated to most job characteristics or health conditions.Conclusions: Understanding of the differing process to work disability for men and women and the relationship between work and health by gender is important for current policy development.     

Work‐related health complaints in surgical residents and the influence of social support and job‐related autonomy

Medical Education 2010: 44 : 835–844 Objectives The aim of this cross‐sectional study was to investigate the influence of job‐related autonomy and social support provided by consultants and colleagues on the stress‐related health complaints of surgical residents in the Netherlands. Methods All (n = 400) Dutch residents in training in general surgery were sent validated self‐report questionnaires. Odds ratios were calculated predicting health and exposure to long‐term stress for gender, number of working hours, type of hospital, level of social support, job‐related autonomy and training phase. The interactions between job‐related autonomy and level of social support provided by consultants and colleagues, and all variables, were analysed. Results A total of 254 of 400 (64%) residents returned questionnaires that were eligible for analysis. Residents experienced more health complaints than the average member of the Dutch working population (4.0 versus 2.5; p = 0.000). Male and senior residents were significantly ‘healthier’ than female and junior residents, respectively. Social support by consultants was a strong predictor of health and social support by colleagues showed a significant interaction with gender. Women and residents in university hospitals experienced less social support by consultants than men and residents in general teaching hospitals. Residents working in university hospitals experienced lower levels of job‐related autonomy and less support from colleagues in comparison with those working in general teaching hospitals. A working week of > 60 hours adversely affected health and job‐related autonomy. Conclusions Social support provided by consultants and colleagues, and job control, are important factors that interact with the work‐associated, stress‐related health of residents in training in general surgery. Residents report a greater number of health complaints than the average member of the working population, especially female and junior residents. General teaching hospitals seem to provide better support at work than university hospitals.     

Gender differences in upper extremity musculoskeletal complaints in the working population

Objectives: This study analysed the association between gender and upper extremity musculoskeletal complaints, among the general working population and in various occupational groups. The hypothesis was tested whether the higher risk for women in the general working population for these complaints could partly be explained by differences in the distribution of men and women in occupations with different risks for the onset of upper extremity musculoskeletal complaints. Methods: The data for this study came from cross-sectional questionnaire data from 16,874 employees categorised in 21 different occupational classes. Associations between gender and complaints of the upper extremities were analysed for the total study sample and for each occupational class separately. An adjustment was made for the variable `occupational class' in the final model in order to study the impact of occupational gender segregation on gender differences in upper extremity complaints in the working population. Results: In the total study sample, significantly higher risks of complaints of the neck, shoulder, elbow, and wrist among the women were observed. Within many occupational classes, women reported significantly higher risks than did men, in particular for complaints of the neck and shoulder. Adjustment for occupational class showed increased risks for female workers for complaints of the neck, shoulder, elbow, and wrist, hence, rejecting our hypothesis on occupational gender segregation as an explanation for the higher risks for upper extremity complaints among women in the general working population. Conclusions: This study confirmed the presence of gender differences in upper extremity musculoskeletal complaints among the working population and in many occupational classes, with female workers having the higher risk. The results, however, do not lend support to a differential occupational exposure theory as an explanation for the higher risks for these complaints among women in the general working population. Careful consideration of gender influence in ergonomic epidemiological studies is recommended. Received: 16 February 2000 / Accepted: 10 June 2000     

Work stress, socioeconomic status and neuroendocrine activation over the working day

Socioeconomic status (SES) differences in cardiovascular and metabolic disease risk may be mediated in part by differential activation of neuroendocrine pathways. We have previously found that salivary cortisol levels over the working day are greater in lower than higher SES men, but that cortisol output is greater in higher than lower SES women. This study investigated the role of work stress in generating these patterns, analysing cortisol output in relation to job demands and job control. Participants were 97 men and 84 woman from the Whitehall II cohort, London, UK, recruited from higher and lower grades of employment. Saliva samples were obtained on waking and 30 min later to assess the cortisol waking responses, and at two hourly intervals over a typical working day. Cortisol responses to waking were positively associated with high job demands, but this effect was attenuated by higher SES. In women but not men, cortisol levels over the remainder of the day were elevated in lower SES participants who experienced high job demands, but depressed in lower status women who reported low job demands. Job control did not influence cortisol responses to waking, but in men cortisol levels over the remainder of the day were inversely related to job control. These cortisol differences were independent of age, smoking status and time of waking up. Subjectively, the most stress was reported by higher SES individuals who experienced low job control. We conclude that work stress and SES are related differently to cortisol responses to waking and cortisol output over the day. Job control may partly mediate SES differences in cortisol in men, while job demands are more relevant for women. Analyses of psychobiological pathways must take account of variations in exposure to chronic stressors as well as differences in responsivity to stressors.     

Job Characteristics and Work Safety Climate Among North Carolina Farmworkers With H-2A Visas

ABSTRACT

Migrant farmworkers are a vulnerable population. Migrant farmworkers with H-2A visas are the only agricultural workers with temporary work permits. Little research has directly focused on the job characteristics and work safety of workers with H-2A visas. This analysis (1) describes their personal and job characteristics, job hazards, and stressors; (2) describes their perceived work safety climate; and (3) examines associations of perceived work safety climate with job characteristics, job hazards, and stressors. Data are from a cross-sectional component of a larger study of farmworker pesticide exposure; in 2012 interviews were conducted with 163 migrant farmworkers with H-2A visas in North Carolina. The sample was limited to men aged 30 to 70 years. Migrant farmworkers with H-2A visas experience the same hazards as do other farmworkers. Their mean score on the Perceived Work Safety Climate Scale 25.5 (SD = 3.7) is similar to that of other farmworkers and other immigrant workers. Perceived work safety climate is associated with hours worked per week (P = .02), precarious employment (P < .001), planting and cultivating (P = .002), topping tobacco (P = .0012), and stress (P = .02). Perceived work safety climate is particularly important for migrant farmworkers with H-2A visas because their labor contracts limit their options to change employers. Additional research on the status of work safety climate among agricultural workers is needed, as well as on the factors that affect work safety climate and on the safety characteristics that are affected by work safety climate. Policy changes that lead to improved work safety climate should be considered.     

Sociodemographic,Psychological and Health-Related Factors Associated with Poor Mental Health in Spanish Women and Men in Midlife

ABSTRACT

Background: The purpose of this work was to examine the sociodemographic, psychological, and health-related factors (considered jointly) associated with poor mental health in midlife and to analyze whether risk and protective factors differed in men and women.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with a middle-class sample of 252 women and 189 men between 45 and 65 years of age from Spanish rural areas. Mental health status was measured with the 12-Item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12; Goldberg & Williams, 1988). Multiple logistic regression models were used to calculate odds ratios with confidence intervals of 95%, adjusting for confounding variables.

Results: The percentage of women (14.3%) with poor mental health was twice that of the men (7.4%). In women, the following variables were significantly and positively related to poor mental health: consumption of psychoactive drugs, physiological and cognitive anxiety; self-esteem and family satisfaction were protective factors. For men, physical complaints and cognitive anxiety were significant risk factors, and job satisfaction was a protective factor.

Conclusions: In general, the psychological variables were more clearly related to poor mental health. Women had a more unfavorable profile, and the variables related to poor mental health differed for men and women, perhaps due to social roles associated with gender. To facilitate diagnosis and take preventive measures, men's and women's risk factors for poor mental health should be differentiated.     

Work correlates of back problems and activity restriction due to musculoskeletal disorders in the Canadian national population health survey (NPHS) 1994-5 data

OBJECTIVES—To describe the prevalence of musculoskeletal problems in the Canadian working population and to determine cross sectional associations between such problems and work factors, particularly job strain and physical demand variables.
METHODS—The Canadian 1994 national population health survey (NPHS) sampled 4230 working men and 4043 working women (ages 18-64) who answered an abbreviated version of the job content questionnaire. Workers were classified into four strain categories: high, passive, active, and low. Outcomes were restricted activity due to musculoskeletal disorders and the diagnosis of a back problem (both yes or no). Survey weights were incorporated to allow for different probabilities of selection. Logistic regression analyses were carried out separately for women and men, controlling for sociodemographic factors.
RESULTS—Prevalence of chronic back problems diagnosed by a health practitioner was 14.5% among men and 12.5% among women. Men had a 6.6% prevalence of restricted activity due to musculoskeletal disorders, whereas the corresponding figure for women was 5.3%. Women, but not men, in high strain jobs were more likely to report both back problems (odds ratio (OR) 1.60, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.14 to 2.28) and restricted activity (OR 1.98, 95% CI 1.16 to 3.48) compared with those in low strain jobs. High physical exertion was an independent predictor of back problems in both sexes. For both men and women, low social support at work and high job insecurity were independent predictors of restricted activity due to musculoskeletal disorders. Conversely, chronic back problems contributed to explanation of high job strain among women (OR 1.76, 95% CI 1.30 to 2.39) and high physical exertion among men (OR 1.39, 95% CI 1.09 to 1.77), whereas restricted activity due to musculoskeletal disorders contributed to explanation of high job insecurity in both sexes.
CONCLUSIONS—Associations of interest between work stressors and musculoskeletal problems in this cross sectional study provide evidence for physical and psychosocial factors both affecting disability and being affected by disability in a working population.


     

Assessment and longitudinal analysis of health impacts and stressors perceived to result from unconventional shale gas development in the Marcellus Shale region

Abstract

Introduction: Concerns for health and social impacts have arisen as a result of Marcellus Shale unconventional natural gas development. Our goal was to document the self-reported health impacts and mental and physical health stressors perceived to result from Marcellus Shale development.

Methods: Two sets of interviews were conducted with a convenience sample of community members living proximal to Marcellus Shale development, session 1 March–September 2010 (n?=?33) and session 2 January–April 2012 (n?=?20). Symptoms of health impacts and sources of psychological stress were coded. Symptom and stressor counts were quantified for each interview. The counts for each participant were compared longitudinally.

Results: Participants attributed 59 unique health impacts and 13 stressors to Marcellus Shale development. Stress was the most frequently-reported symptom. Over time, perceived health impacts increased (P?=?0·042), while stressors remained constant (P?=?0·855).

Discussion: Exposure-based epidemiological studies are needed to address identified health impacts and those that may develop as unconventional natural gas extraction continues. Many of the stressors can be addressed immediately.     

Job insecurity and its association with health among employees in the Taiwanese general population

As employers respond to intensive global competition through the deregulation of labor, job insecurity has become a widespread problem. It has been shown to have significant health impacts in a growing number of workers, but less is known about its social distribution, the mechanisms through which it may act, and the moderating effects of gender, socioeconomic position, and company size. Utilizing data from a national survey of a representative sample of paid employees in Taiwan, we examined the prevalence of job insecurity and its associations with psychosocial work characteristics and health status. A total of 8705 men and 5986 women aged between 25 and 65 years old were studied. Information on perceived job insecurity, industrial and occupational types, psychosocial work characteristics as assessed by the Job Strain model, and various measures of health status were obtained by a self-administered questionnaire. The overall prevalence of job insecurity was high (50%). Job insecurity was more prevalent among employees with lower education attainment, in blue-collar and construction workers, those employed in smaller companies, and in older women. Insecure employees also reported lower job control, higher job demands, and poor workplace social support, as compared with those who held secure positions. Regression analyses showed that job insecurity was strongly associated with poor health, even with adjustment of age, job control, job demands, and work place social support. The deleterious effects of job insecurity appeared to be stronger in men than women, in women who held managerial or professional jobs than women in other employment grades, and in those working in larger companies than smaller ones. The findings of this study suggest that perceived job insecurity is an important source of stress, and it is accompanied with adverse psychosocial work conditions and poor health. High-risk groups were identified for further investigation.     

Inégalité de détresse psychologique entre les hommes et les femmes en emploi : vulnérabilité ou expression genrée du stress?

IntroductionThis study aims to compare the vulnerability hypothesis and the expression hypothesis to explain a greater level of psychological distress among working women than among working men.MethodThe two hypotheses were contrasted by integrating work stressors, family stressors, work-family conflicts and psychosocial resources. The conceptual models were tested by using multilevel path analyses on 2026 employees in Quebec (Canada) based in 63 work establishments.ResultsResults partially supported both hypotheses. According to the vulnerability hypothesis, single parenting, child-related problems and self-esteem were indirectly involved in the variation of psychological distress among women through family-to-work, otherwise known as work-family conflict. According to the expression hypothesis, although family-to-work conflict was closely associated with more psychological distress among women, this stressor was also closely associated with higher at-risk alcohol consumption among men. Couple-related problems and a sense of control likewise played a role in the expression mechanism through family-to-work conflict.ConclusionThese results underline the importance of considering that gender contributes to mental health inequalities through multiple mechanisms. They also call for a distinction between the two directions of work-family conflict as gendered mediators.     

Relationship between psychosocial factors at work and incidence of perceived health problems in the GERICOTS cohort

BackgroundThe objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between the incidence of health problems and the psychosocial work environment in a French occupational cohort.MethodsAmong the 2062 employees in the North of France who participated in the GERICOTS survey between 1999 and 2004, 1154 subjects who kept the same full-time shift in the same firm during the study period (797 men and 357 women) were included. Job strain was assessed using Karasek's model–the strain profile (high psychological demand and low decision latitude) and the iso-strain profile (strain profile and low social support)–and Siegrist's model, Effort–Reward Imbalance (ERI) (high effort and low rewards). Perceived health status was assessed using the four dimensions of the Nottingham Health Profile (emotional reactions, sleep, social isolation, pain). The results are given by the odds ratio adjusted for age, occupational category, and size of firm.ResultsAt baseline, higher prevalence of health problems was found in workers with job strain, e.g., between emotional reactions and iso-strain for men, OR = 3.50 (2.19–5.60) and for women, 2.64 (1.39–5.04) or between sleep disorders and ERI for men, OR = 2.41 (1.71–3.40) and for women, OR = 2.41 (1.39–4.20). Longitudinal analysis showed a significant relationship between incidence of health problems and level of job strain in 1999, e.g., between sleep disorder incidence and strain profile, OR = 1.89 (1.16–3.06) and ERI, OR = 2.20 (1.43–3.38).ConclusionThese results show a significant relationship between perceived health and job stress in 1999 but also between incidence of health problems between 1999 and 2004 and job strain in 1999.     

Striking a Balance: Work-Health-Personal Life Conflict in Women and Men with Arthritis and its Association with Work Outcomes

Purpose To examine men and women’s perceptions of inter-role balance/imbalance in work, arthritis, and personal roles and its association with demographic, health and employment factors, including job stress, career satisfaction, job disruptions, absenteeism and perceived productivity losses. Methods Participants were employed, aged ≥40 years and diagnosed with osteoarthritis or inflammatory arthritis. They were recruited through community advertising and rheumatology clinics in two Canadian provinces. Respondents completed a 35–45 min telephone interview and a 20-min self-administered questionnaire assessing role perceptions [(arthritis negatively impacts work (A → W); work/personal life negatively impact arthritis (W/P → A); work as a positive role (W +))], demographic, health and work context information. Analyses included exploratory factor analysis and multivariate regressions. Results Findings revealed similarities between men (n = 104) and women (n = 248) in health, work and role perceptions, although women reported more benefits of working with arthritis (W+) than men. Some gender differences were found in factors associated with inter-role perceptions highlighting the importance of children, fatigue, unpredictable work hours, job control, and workplace activity limitations. Role perceptions were associated with work outcomes but only one perception, W/P → A, interacted with gender. Among men, greater perceptions that work and personal demands interfered with managing arthritis were associated with more job disruptions. Conclusions This study revealed negative and positive inter-role perceptions related to working with a chronic illness and associations with work outcomes. It highlights potentially modifiable factors that could assess risk and inform interventions to improve role balance and working experiences.     

Engagement in patterns of daily occupations and perceived health among women of working age

The aim of the present cross-sectional study was to examine how subjective experiences of engagement in patterns of daily occupations (gainful employment, domestic work, enjoyable and recreational occupations) were associated with perceived health among women of working age. The sample (n=488) was drawn from a longitudinal cohort study of women of working age in Gothenburg, Sweden. Participants were women 38 (n=202) and 50 (n=286) years of age. They completed a questionnaire including questions about occupational experiences in relation to their patterns of daily occupations, perceived health, and socioeconomic factors. The results of the present study showed that a combination of different experience dimensions of patterns of daily occupations was associated with perceived health among women of working age, even when adjusted for socioeconomic factors and age. The results provided occupational pattern-related health indicators, i.e. manageability, personally meaningful occupations, and occupational balance. To combine these health indicators can be a way for occupational therapists to enable women to develop strategies to promote health and to prevent stress and sick leave.     

Gender and age disparities in the associations of occupational factors with alcohol abuse and smoking in the French working population

BackgroundThis study assessed the associations of short-term employment, physical and psychological occupational demands, and job dissatisfaction with alcohol abuse (using the Audit-C test) and daily smoking among working French men and women in different age groups.MethodsThe sample included 13,241 working people, 18–29, 30–39, and 40–59-years-old, randomly selected in France and interviewed by phone. Occupation, type of employment, physical demands, psychological demands, job dissatisfaction, gender, age, educational level, and income were considered. Data were analyzed with logistic models.ResultsAlcohol abuse affected 20.4% of men and 7.5% of women; smoking 32.1% and 24.2%, respectively. Their patterns of association with the occupational factors varied with gender and age. Job dissatisfaction was the leading factor among young men (adjusted odds ratio for alcohol abuse and smoking: 1.71 and 2.02), whereas short-term employment was the leading factor among young women (1.69 and 1.58), this pattern being reversed in older generations. The pattern of associations of physical and psychological demands with outcomes is more complex, but overall psychological demands were more important for women (especially the younger ones) than men, especially for smoking (OR > 1.6). Smoking within 5 min after waking was much more common among male and female smokers with these occupational factors, suggesting a potential dependency.ConclusionsWorkers with short-term employment and occupational demands are subject to a higher risk for alcohol abuse and smoking with high gender and age disparities. Gender and age should be considered when designing measures to prevent substance abuse related to occupation.     

Participation in a US community-based cardiovascular health study: investigating nonrandom selection effects related to employment,perceived stress,work-related stress,and family caregiving

PurposeParticipation in health studies may be inversely associated with employment and stress. We investigated whether employment, perceived stress, work-related stress, and family caregiving were related to participation in a longitudinal US community-based health study of black and white men and women aged ≥45 years.MethodsPrevalence ratios and confidence intervals were estimated for completion of the second stage (S2) of a two-stage enrollment process by employment (status, type), and stress (perceived stress, work-related stress, caregiving), adjusting for age, sex, race, region, income, and education. Eligibility and consent for a follow-up occupational survey were similarly evaluated.ResultsWage- but not self-employed participants were less likely than the unemployed to complete S2. Among the employed, S2 completion did not vary by stress; however, family caregivers with a short time burden of care (<2 hour/d) were more likely to complete S2, compared to noncaregivers. Eligibility and participation in the follow-up occupational survey were higher among those employed (vs. unemployed) at enrollment but were not associated with enrollment stress levels.ConclusionsLimited evidence of selection bias was seen by employment and stress within a large US community-based cohort, but findings suggest the need for enrollment procedures to consider possible barriers to participation among wage-employed individuals.     

Stress-Related Poor Diet Quality Does Not Explain Socioeconomic Inequities in Health: A Structural Equation Mediation Analysis of Gender-Specific Pathways

BackgroundPsychosocial stress and diet quality individually mediate associations between socioeconomic position (SEP) and health; however, it is not known whether they jointly mediate these associations. This is an important question because stress-related unhealthy eating is often invoked as an explanation for diet-related health inequities, particularly among women, seemingly with no empirical justification.ObjectiveThis study examined whether psychosocial stress and diet quality jointly mediated associations between SEP and self-rated health in women and men.DesignMultiple mediating pathways were modeled using data from the cross-sectional International Food Policy Study.Participants and settingData were collected from 5,645 adults (aged 18 years or older) in Canada during 2018 and 2019.Main outcome measuresParticipants reported SEP using indicators of materialist (educational attainment and perceived income adequacy) and psychosocial pathways (subjective social status), along with psychosocial stress, dietary intake (to assess overall diet quality via Healthy Eating Index-2015 scores), and self-rated health.Statistical analyses performedStructural equation modeling modeled pathways linking SEP (ie, educational attainment, perceived income adequacy, and subjective social status) with self-rated health mediated by psychosocial stress and diet quality, stratified by gender.ResultsThere was no evidence that psychosocial stress and diet quality jointly mediated associations between SEP and self-rated health in women or men. Diet quality mediated associations between educational attainment and self-rated health in women and men, with some evidence that it mediated associations between subjective social status and self-rated health in men (P = 0.051). Psychosocial stress mediated associations between perceived income adequacy and self-rated health in women and men, and between subjective social status and self-rated health in women.ConclusionsAlthough often invoked as an explanation for diet-related health inequities, stress-related poor diet quality did not mediate associations between SEP and self-rated health in women or men. Psychosocial stress and diet quality individually mediated some of these associations, with some differences by gender.     

Socioeconomic inequalities in health in the working population: the contribution of working conditions

BACKGROUND: The aim was to study the impact of different categories of working conditions on the association between occupational class and self-reported health in the working population. METHODS: Data were collected through a postal survey conducted in 1991 among inhabitants of 18 municipalities in the southeastern Netherlands. Data concerned 4521 working men and 2411 working women and included current occupational class (seven classes), working conditions (physical working conditions, job control, job demands, social support at work), perceived general health (very good or good versus less than good) and demographic confounders. Data were analysed with logistic regression techniques. RESULTS: For both men and women we observed a higher odds ratio for a less than good perceived general health in the lower occupational classes (adjusted for confounders). The odds of a less than good perceived general health was larger among people reporting more hazardous physical working conditions, lower job control, lower social support at work and among those in the highest category of job demands. Results were similar for men and women. Men and women in the lower occupational classes reported more hazardous physical working conditions and lower job control as compared to those in higher occupational classes. High job demands were more often reported in the higher occupational classes, while social support at work was not clearly related to occupational class. When physical working conditions and job control were added simultaneously to a model with occupational class and confounders, the odds ratios for occupational classes were reduced substantially. For men, the per cent change in the odds ratios for the occupational classes ranged between 35% and 83%, and for women between 35% and 46%. CONCLUSIONS: A substantial part of the association between occupational class and a less than good perceived general health in the working population could be attributed to a differential distribution of hazardous physical working conditions and a low job control across occupational classes. This suggests that interventions aimed at improving these working conditions might result in a reduction of socioeconomic inequalities in health in the working population.     

Ethnicity,work-related stress and subjective reports of health by migrant workers: a multi-dimensional model

Objectives: This study integrates different aspects of ethnicity and work-related stress dimensions (based on the Demands-Resources-Individual-Effects model, DRIVE [Mark, G. M., and A. P. Smith. 2008. “Stress Models: A Review and Suggested New Direction.” In Occupational Health Psychology, edited by J. Houdmont and S. Leka, 111–144. Nottingham: Nottingham University Press]) and aims to test a multi-dimensional model that combines individual differences, ethnicity dimensions, work characteristics, and perceived job satisfaction/stress as independent variables in the prediction of subjectives reports of health by workers differing in ethnicity.

Design: A questionnaire consisting of the following sections was submitted to 900 workers in Southern Italy: for individual and cultural characteristics, coping strategies, personality behaviours, and acculturation strategies; for work characteristics, perceived job demands and job resources/rewards; for appraisals, perceived job stress/satisfaction and racial discrimination; for subjective reports of health, psychological disorders and general health. To test the reliability and construct validity of the extracted factors referred to all dimensions involved in the proposed model and logistic regression analyses to evaluate the main effects of the independent variables on the health outcomes were conducted.

Results: Principal component analysis (PCA) yielded seven factors for individual and cultural characteristics (emotional/relational coping, objective coping, Type A behaviour, negative affectivity, social inhibition, affirmation/maintenance culture, and search identity/adoption of the host culture); three factors for work characteristics (work demands, intrinsic/extrinsic rewards, and work resources); three factors for appraisals (perceived job satisfaction, perceived job stress, perceived racial discrimination) and three factors for subjective reports of health (interpersonal disorders, anxious-depressive disorders, and general health). Logistic regression analyses showed main effects of specific individual and cultural differences, work characteristics and perceived job satisfaction/stress on the risk of suffering health problems.

Conclusion: The suggested model provides a strong framework that illustrates how psychosocial and individual variables can influence occupational health in multi-cultural workplaces.