Work stress and depression: the direct and moderating effects of informal social support and coping

Abstract

This article investigated the relationship between job stressors and employee mental health (depression). It also examined the direct and moderating effects of informal social support (objective and subjective) and coping (active coping, overeating and drinking, passivity, and distancing) on the relationships. Survey data were collected from 843 employees in eight types of domestic‐ and foreign‐invested enterprises in China. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that increased exposure to job stressors was directly associated with higher levels of depression. Subjective informal social support and passivity were found to have direct effect on employees' depression. Further, objective informal social support and distancing buffered the negative effect of job stressors on depression. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed in the paper. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Do resources buffer the prospective association of psychosocial work stress with depression? Longitudinal evidence from ageing workers

“…However, a few other studies have investigated the buffering effect of other related concepts on the association between psychosocial working conditions and mental health. Several studies have shown that internal resources such as sense of coherence or coping mechanisms buffer the mental health effects of psychosocial work stressors (26)(27)(28)(29)(30). These studies are in conflict with our results, Table 3a.…”

“…There are some studies using related concepts, such as locus of control or sense of coherence, which suggest moderating effects (26)(27)(28)(29)(30). However, these studies are mainly based on cross-sectional designs with rather small sample sizes.…”

Implicaciones recíprocas de la edad y el país de pertenencia en la relación entre apoyo emocional percibido y depresión.: Un estudio transcultural.

“…Igualmente, los estudios realizados en el ámbito internacional han contemplado un panorama especialmente amplio de situaciones. En este sentido, se ha estudiado la relación entre apoyo social y depresión en personas con estrés laboral (Chen, Siu, Lu, Cooper y Philips, 2009); estrés provocado por la amenaza terrorista (Sahar, Gohen, Grogan, Braile y Henrich 2009); la aculturación (Ayers, Hofstetter, Usita, Irvin, Kang y Hovell, 2009); la muerte de un ser querido (Burke y Neimeyer, 2010); o el trauma psicológico (Schumn, Briggs y Hobfoll, 2006). También se ha estudiado el apoyo social, relacionado con variables de personalidad como el perfeccionismo (Shery, Law, Hewitt, Flett y Besser, 2008), el optimismo (Piko, Luszczynska y Fitzpatrick, 2012), o con los más dispares problemas de salud, como infección por sida (Vyavaharkar, Moneyham, Corwin, Saunders, Annang y Tavakoli, 2010); la esclerosis múltiple (Vargas y Arnett, 2010); o procesos oncológicos (Robles, Morales, Jiménez y Morales, 2009).…”

Job Satisfaction Among Malaysian Employees: An Application of Spector’s Job Satisfaction Survey in the South East Asian Context

“…Repeating the procedure resulted in receiving consent from only two organizations. Due to concerns about the time constraints and difficulties in recruiting a sufficient number of participants, respondents were selected from 12 manufacturing companies situated in the East (Pahang and Terengganu) and West Coast (Selangor, Johor, Malacca, Negeri Sembilan and Kedah) of Peninsula Malaysia by approaching the top management team members (Chen et al 2009), managers or employees with whom the researcher had professional connections or personal contacts (Lu, Gilmour, Kao & Huang 2006). Furthermore, using purposive and professional connection strategies are justified because the random approach led to a very low response rate from Malaysian organizations that had been involved in previous studies (Idris, Dollard & Winefield 2010).…”