Job Stress and Mental Health of Permanent and Fixed‐term Workers Measured by Effort‐reward Imbalance Model, Depressive Complaints, and Clinic Utilization

Abstract

The number of workers with precarious employment has increased globally; however, few studies have used validated measures to investigate the relationship of job status to stress and mental health. Thus, we conducted a study to compare differential job stress experienced by permanent and fixed-term workers using an effortreward imbalance (ERI) model questionnaire, and by evaluating depressive complaints and clinic utilization. Methods: Subjects were permanent or fixed-term male workers at a Japanese research institute (n=756). Baseline data on job stress and depressive complaints were collected in 2007. We followed up with the same population over a 1-year period to assess their utilization of the company clinic for mental health concerns. Results: The ERI ratio was higher among permanent workers than among fixed-term workers. More permanent workers presented with more than two depressive complaints, which is the standard used for the diagnosis of depression. ERI scores indicated that the effort component of permanent work was associated with distress, whereas distress in fixed-term work was related to job promotion and job insecurity. Moreover, over the one-year follow-up period, fixed-term workers visited the on-site clinic for mental concerns 4.04 times more often than permanent workers even after adjusting for age, lifestyle, ERI, and depressive complaints. Conclusions: These contrasting findings reflect the differential workloads and working conditions encountered by permanent and fixed-term workers. The occupational setting where employment status was intermingled, may have contributed to the high numbers of mental health-related issues experienced by workers with different employment status. (J Occup Health 2011; 53: 93-101)

Precarious employment and the risk of serious psychological distress: a population-based cohort study in Japan

“…Although, to the best of our knowledge, similar longitudinal studies conducted in Japan have not been published so far, our results are also consistent with the findings of several (23,24), but not all (25) cross-sectional studies conducted in Japan indicating that precarious employment is associated with mental health indicators such as fatigue (24) and SPD (23). Cross-sectional approaches are limited in their ability to assess causality; thus, in order to minimize the possibility of reverse causality -that Table 2.…”

Body mass index, blood pressure, and glucose and lipid metabolism among permanent and fixed-term workers in the manufacturing industry: a cross-sectional study

“…This may be influenced by contract type. Permanent workers often work hard and feel more pressure from their workload [29]. The results of the current study also suggest that permanent workers are at greater risk for chronic disease because of stress in their jobs and their lifestyles.…”

Relationship between Occupational Stress, 5-HT2A Receptor Polymorphisms and Mental Health in Petroleum Workers in the Xinjiang Arid Desert: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…Psychological health is “a state of wellbeing in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community” [3]. There is increased interest in research examining the relationship between occupational stress and mental health [4,5,6,7,8]. …”