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- Näswall, Katharina, et al.
(författare)
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Depression and work stressors: gender differences in stress experiences.
- 2006
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Ingår i: The Sixth International Conference on Occupational Stress & Health.
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Konferensbidrag (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- The general category of factors labeled job stress has been associated with a number of negative outcomes, such as health complaints, as well as negative attitudes and behaviors. The exact nature of the particular stressors may vary in different studies, but individuals who are exposed to different stressors generally report lower well-being and symptoms of ill-health and depression.Depression has been reported as a consequence of job stress in several studies, and there are indications of reverse causation, in that depression has been found to influence perceptions of work stressors, thus actually exacerbating the experience of negative conditions at work. Moreover, levels of depression have been found to be higher among women, and women tend to be more likely to experience depressive episodes. Fewer studies have tested whether the link between job stressors and depression is stronger among women as compared to men. Based on this, the present study investigates the relationship between work stressors and depression, and potential gender differences in this relationship, as well as testing the direction of the relationship, using a longitudinal design. In order to investigate the whether the strengths of the relationships between work stressors and depression vary between women and men by a multiple group comparison using structural equation modeling.Wave 1 of the data collection was completed during February 2005. Questionnaires were sent out to the home addresses of all employees at an accounting firm with branches all over Sweden, and 250 filled out and returned their questionnaires for a response rate of 86%. Women comprised 50% of the sample, and the mean age was 42 years (SD=10). Wave 2 data will be collected in January 2006.The preliminary results indicate that work stressors predict depression similarly among women as compared to men, implying that explanatory models for depression hold for both groups, at least when pertaining to work stressors. The results also indicate that work stressors explain a larger proportion of the variance in depression than indicated by previous research. The results indicate that depression may be partly prevented by improving the work situation. When expanded with tests for reverse causality and control for initial values, the study will be able to shed light on gender differences in the development of depressive symptoms over time as well, and have implications for helping individuals cope with depression at work.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Sverke, Magnus, et al.
(författare)
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Job insecurity and sense of mastery: Cross-lagged analysis.
- 2006
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Ingår i: Work, Stress and Health 2006: Making a difference at the workplace.
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Konferensbidrag (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- Job insecurity can be defined as a perceptual phenomenon, reflecting the fear of involuntary job loss, and it has been linked to several negative outcomes. Just like for other stressors, these consequences can be classified in three broad categories – psychological, behavioral, and health-related. However, whereas previous research has concluded that job insecurity is associated with negative job attitudes and poor well-being, there is insufficient evidence to draw any causal inferences. Most studies are cross-sectional and therefore unable to control for initial levels of the outcome variables and examine temporal precedence. Only a few studies have explicitly addressed the issue of direction of relation between job insecurity and such outcomes. The aim of the present study is to shed light on the issue of causality in the relationship between job insecurity and a hitherto neglected potential psychological outcome – sense of mastery. Drawing upon the unemployment literature, it is reasonable to suggest that job insecurity may lead to impaired sense of mastery, as reflected in, for instance, impaired self-esteem and reduced confidence in one’s own capacity. Equally plausible, however, would be to assume that a strong sense of mastery serves a protective function. Whether job insecurity, just like unemployment, may lead individuals to lose confidence in their capacity to make a difference is still an unresolved issue. Longitudinal data for this study are currently being collected using mail questionnaires among white-collar workers in a Swedish organization. The time 1 data collection wave was completed in Winter 2004/2005 (response rate: 64%). Preliminary analyses, based on Time 1 data, indicate that job insecurity was negatively related to various indicators of sense of mastery (e.g., self-esteem). The Time 2 data will make it possible to test various alternative models of causality. Latent variable cross-lagged analysis will contribute to the understanding of the development and consequences of job insecurity by shedding light on the issue of sense of mastery in this process.
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