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Prognostic effects of selection, optimization and compensation strategies on work ability: results from the representative lidA cohort study on work, age, and health in Germany

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Abstract

Purpose

Regarding the increased need for the retention of older employees in the workforce, this study investigates whether there are main and interactive longitudinal effects of selection, optimization, compensation and working conditions according to the job demand–control model on work ability in older employees.

Methods

Longitudinal data of computer-assisted personal interviews with one follow-up after 3 years of 3961 participants (born in 1959 and 1965) of the representative German lidA cohort study was used. Multiple linear regressions were performed, analyzing prospective main and interactive effects of selection, optimization, compensation and working conditions during baseline on perceived work ability at follow-up.

Results

Regarding selection, optimization and compensation, only compensation had a positive, but weak effect on work ability. Working conditions were more strongly related to work ability: decision authority and skill discretion had independent positive and job demands had independent negative effects on work ability. One interaction effect was observed between loss-based selection and decision authority, such that they mutually enhanced their positive effects on work ability. Only few and weak interactions among the sub-strategies, selection, optimization and compensation, were observed.

Conclusions

Results indicate that especially favorable working conditions in terms of high job control and low job demands, but also compensation might help older employees to maintain work ability.

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Notes

  1. Full time, part time, marginal employment or employment-creation measure, or in other paid jobs with working time > 1 h/week.

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Acknowledgements

The research was financed in the frame of the lidA study by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) under the Project Numbers 01 ER 0806, 01 ER 0825, 01 ER 0826, 01 ER 0827.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Centre for Health and Society, Heinrich-Heine-University of Düsseldorf, Universitätsstr. 1, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany

    Jeannette Weber & Andreas Müller

  2. Institute of Psychology, Work- and Organizational Psychology, University Duisburg-Essen, Universitätsstr. 2, 45141, Essen, Germany

    Andreas Müller

  3. Department of Occupational Health Science, School of Mechanical Engineering and Safety Engineering, University of Wuppertal, Gaußstr. 20, 42119, Wuppertal, Germany

    Michael Stiller & Daniela Borchart

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  1. Jeannette Weber
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  2. Andreas Müller
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Correspondence to Jeannette Weber.

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Research involving human participants and/or animals

The research project was approved by the ethics committee of the University of Wuppertal (December 5th, 2008).

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Appendix

Appendix

Example items for life management strategies (according to Baltes et al. 1999): The participants were asked to choose between two mutually exclusive life management strategy statements. Here, the first statement always represents the respective SOC strategy, the second one representing an alternative non-SOC option, handled as a distractor.

Elective selection: ‘When you think about pursuing your work goals, how do you proceed?’

  • ‘I concentrate all my energy on few things.’

  • ‘I divide my energy among many things.’

Loss-based selection: ‘When things don’t go as well as before, how do you proceed?’

  • ‘I choose one or two important goals.’

  • ‘I still try to keep all my goals.’

Optimization: ‘When you think about achieving your work goals, how do you proceed?’

  • ‘I keep working on what I have planned until I succeed.’

  • ‘When I do not succeed right away at what I want to do, I don’t try other possibilities for very long.’

Compensation: ‘When things don’t go as well as they used to, how do you proceed?’

  • ‘I keep trying other ways until I can achieve the same result I used to.’

  • ‘I accept it.’

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Weber, J., Müller, A., Stiller, M. et al. Prognostic effects of selection, optimization and compensation strategies on work ability: results from the representative lidA cohort study on work, age, and health in Germany. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 91, 1061–1071 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-018-1348-x

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