Introduction
Job stress models and the interaction between job control and social support at work
The aims of this study
Materials and methods
Design and population
Variables | Category | Men (%) | Women (%) |
---|---|---|---|
Age (years) | 45–54 | 61.0 | 62.8 |
55–64 | 39.0 | 37.2 | |
Education (years) | Up to 12 | 70.6 | 68.4 |
Over 12 | 29.4 | 31.6 | |
Marital status | Married | 75.9 | 62.8 |
Non-married | 24.1 | 37.2 | |
Origin of country | Swedish | 92.8 | 93.4 |
Non-Swedish | 7.2 | 6.6 | |
Cross-sectional (at T
1) | Low job control | 30.5 | 46.6 |
High job demands | 51.2 | 45.9 | |
Low social support at work | 50.4 | 44.9 | |
Cross-sectional (at T
2) | Low job control | 33.8* | 55.2** |
High job demands | 55.2* | 48.8 | |
Low social support at work | 49.8 | 49.6** | |
Cross-time (both at T
1 and T
2) | Consistent C, D, and S across times | 46.8 | 44.8 |
Changed C, D, or S across times | 53.2 | 55.2 | |
Family-to-work conflict (at T
2) | 10.7 | 18.5 | |
Stress from outside-work problems (at T
2) | 20.5 | 31.6 | |
Worry due to family members (at T
2) | 7.5 | 21.0 | |
Number of days on sick leave (at T
2) | ≤3 days | 87.1 | 79.2 |
≥4 days | 12.9 | 20.8 | |
GHQ case (at T
2) | 11.2 | 19.4 |
Outcome variable at follow-up
Variables | M (SD)a | M (SD)b | Spearman correlation (γ) | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||
1. Job control (T
2) | 76.3 (10.4) | 71.9 (11.0) | .05 | .14 | −.22 | |
2. Psychological job demands (T
2) | 32.3 (6.4) | 31.3 (6.6) | .18 | −.21 | .16 | |
3. Social support at work (T
2) | 12.7 (4.5) | 13.0 (4.0) | .08 | −.16 | −.24 | |
4. Psychological distress: GHQ-30 (T
2) | 52.3 (7.3) | 54.5 (9.8) | −.15 | .16 | −.18 |
Exposure variables: psychosocial work characteristics
Socio-demographic and other covariates
Statistical methods
Results
Descriptive statistics and correlations
Independent effect of each of the psychosocial work characteristics?
Variables | Men (n = 1,035) | Women (n = 905) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Model 1 | Model 2 | Model 3 | Model 1 | Model 2 | Model 3 | |
Low job control | 1.43 (0.96–2.14) | 1.41 (0.93–2.14) | 1.47 (0.94–2.30) | 1.44 (1.01–2.05) | 1.64 (1.13–2.38) | 1.88 (1.25–2.83) |
High job demands | 1.71 (1.13–2.60) | 1.75 (1.15–2.65) | 1.47 (0.95–2.30) | 1.51 (1.08–2.13) | 1.42 (1.00–2.01) | 1.06 (0.72–1.55) |
Low social support at work | 1.72 (1.15–2.59) | 1.71 (1.14–2.58) | 1.61 (1.04–2.48) | 2.23 (1.56–3.19) | 2.16 (1.50–3.10) | 2.08 (1.41–3.07) |
Age (vs. 45–54 years old) | 1.18 (0.79–1.76) | 1.40 (0.91–2.16) | 0.64 (0.44–0.92) | 0.76 (0.51–1.15) | ||
Marital status (vs. married) | 1.48 (0.96–2.28) | 1.33 (0.84–2.11) | 1.29 (0.91–1.83) | 1.54 (1.05–2.26) | ||
Origin of country (vs. Swedish) | 0.99 (0.46–2.15) | 0.80 (0.34–1.87) | 1.83 (1.01–3.31) | 1.75 (0.89–3.41) | ||
Low education (vs. >12 years) | 0.95 (0.61–1.47) | 1.20 (0.75–1.93) | 0.66 (0.46–0.97) | 0.73 (0.48–1.09) | ||
Family-to-work conflict | 2.75 (1.61–4.70) | 2.28 (1.46–3.57) | ||||
Stress from outside-work problems | 4.60 (2.95–7.17) | 4.50 (3.01–6.73) | ||||
Worry due to family members | 1.20 (0.63–2.31) | 1.52 (0.98–2.37) | ||||
Number of days on sick leave (vs. ≤3 days) | 1.53 (0.87–2.69) | 1.10 (0.70–1.71) | ||||
Changed psychosocial work characteristics (vs. consistent between T
1 and T
2) | 1.02 (0.67–1.56) | 0.92 (0.63–1.34) |
Synergistic interaction effects of job control and social support at work
Sex | Job control | GHQ case, % (n) | Odds ratio (95% CI)a
| Synergy index (95% CI; 80% CI) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Social support at work | ||||||
High | Low | |||||
Men | High | 7.8 (371) | 12.4 (314) | 1.00 | 1.50 (0.88, 2.58) | |
Low | 8.7 (149) | 17.4 (201) | 1.31 (0.63, 2.71) | 2.37 (1.34, 4.18) | 1.68 (0.36–7.77; 0.90–3.15) | |
Women | High | 10.9 (247) | 22.2 (158) | 1.00 | 1.85 (1.02, 3.37) | |
Low | 14.4 (209) | 28.9 (291) | 1.67 (0.90, 3.09) | 3.78 (2.21, 6.46) | 1.83 (0.74–4.52; 1.25–2.65) |
Impact of job demands on the synergistic effects
Sex | Job demands | Job control | GHQ case, % (n) | Odds ratio (95% CI)a
| Synergy index (95% CI; 80% CI) | Odds ratio (95% CI)b
| |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Social support at work | |||||||||
High | Low | ||||||||
Men | Low | High | 5.1 (177) | 10.1 (109) | 1.00 | 1.71 (0.63, 4.65) | 9.24 | 1.00 | 1.78 (0.68, 4.62) |
Low | 3.3 (90) | 17.0 (88) | 0.65 (0.16, 2.67) | 4.33 (1.65, 11.36) | (0.04–2,373.39; 0.95–89.68) | 0.62 (0.16, 2.43) | 3.82 (1.53, 9.57) | ||
High | High | 10.3 (194) | 13.7 (205) | 1.00 | 1.38 (0.72, 2.65) | 0.52 | 1.70 (0.73, 3.98) | 2.34 (1.03, 5.30) | |
Low | 16.9 (59) | 17.7 (113) | 2.03 (0.84, 4.92) | 1.73 (0.84, 3.55) | (0.10–2.75; 0.26–1.02) | 3.69 (1.34, 10.14) | 2.99 (1.25, 7.17) | ||
Women | Low | High | 9.6 (136) | 18.5 (65) | 1.00 | 1.66 (0.65, 4.25) | 2.16 | 1.00 | 1.40 (0.55, 3.56) |
Low | 12.1 (132) | 23.8 (130) | 1.63 (0.70, 3.81) | 3.79 (1.71, 8.38) | (0.47–9.88; 1.16–4.03) | 1.63 (0.71, 4.40) | 3.49 (1.63, 7.47) | ||
High | High | 12.6 (111) | 24.7 (93) | 1.00 | 2.45 (1.07, 5.58) | 1.51 | 0.89 (0.38, 2.11) | 2.00 (0.90, 4.46) | |
Low | 18.2 (77) | 32.9 (161) | 1.87 (0.74, 4.70) | 4.51 (2.10, 9.69) | (0.56–4.11; 1.00–2.28) | 1.50 (0.62, 3.66) | 3.66 (1.77, 7.54) |
Sensitivity tests in two alternative groups
Sex | Job demands | Job control | GHQ case, % (n) | Odds ratio (95% CI)a
| Synergy index (95% CI; 80% CI) | Odds ratio (95% CI)b
| |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Social support at work | |||||||||
High | Low | ||||||||
Men | Low | High | 7.1 (340) | 11.9 (219) | 1.00 | 1.53 (0.80, 2.92) | 5.88 | 1.00 | 1.58 (0.85, 2.93) |
Low | 6.1 (179) | 18.9 (196) | 0.81 (0.36, 1.84) | 2.98 (1.58, 5.61) | (0.15–229.65; 1.31–26.43) | 0.79 (0.36, 1.73) | 2.60 (1.44, 4.72) | ||
High | High | 11.0 (373) | 20.8 (448) | 1.00 | 1.79 (1.15, 3.71) | 0.55 | 1.33 (0.76, 2.34) | 2.32 (1.39, 3.88) | |
Low | 19.9 (136) | 25.2 (274) | 2.07 (1.16, 3.71) | 2.03 (1.26, 3.26) | (0.24–1.28; 0.39–0.78) | 2.92 (1.53, 5.55) | 2.71 (1.58, 4.68) | ||
Women | Low | High | 12.3 (268) | 25.7 (148) | 1.00 | 1.62 (0.90, 2.91) | 1.16 | 1.00 | 1.68 (0.95, 2.99) |
Low | 17.1 (269) | 28.3 (286) | 1.39 (0.80, 2.41) | 2.17 (1.29, 3.63) | (0.40–3.35; 0.75–1.79) | 1.50 (0.88, 2.56) | 2.30 (1.40, 3.78) | ||
High | High | 17.8 (225) | 33.0 (261) | 1.00 | 2.27 (1.41, 3.65) | 1.04 | 1.06 (0.61, 1.84) | 2.43 (1.48, 3.97) | |
Low | 20.3 (197) | 37.8 (429) | 1.22 (0.71, 2.10) | 2.55 (1.64, 3.99) | (0.51–2.12; 0.78–1.40) | 1.22 (0.70, 2.13) | 2.69 (1.70, 4.27) |