Reducing on-the-job stress and strain may lower the risk of depression.
Reducing on-the-job stress and strain may lower the risk of depression.
Major depression is a prevalent mental health problem in the working population and is known to impact on workers' productivity. But it is not clear how changes in the levels of work stress or job strain are related to the risk of major depression.
Researchers from Canada studied 4,866 people to investigate how changes in job strain over time can influence people's likelihood of becoming depressed. All participants reported their job strain status in 1994-1995 and again in 2000-2001. The researchers divided the subjects into four groups: people with low job strain at both the times; people with high job strain at both times; people with low job strain at the first time and high job strain at the second; and people who initially had high job strain and then reported low job strain.
Over a follow up period of 10 years it was found that the workers who initially reported having high-strain jobs but then later reported perceiving their jobs as being less stressful were at the same risk of depression as their peers who worked at low-strain jobs for the entire time.
Among people with consistently high job strain, 8 percent had an episode of depression during the study period, compared to 4 percent of those who had low job strain at both times. For people whose jobs got less stressful, the risk of major depression was 4 percent, compared to 7 percent for people whose jobs became more stressful.
Within the group of people with high job strain at both times, only those who rated their health as good or excellent at the beginning of the study were at a higher risk of depression compared to those who rated their health as poor to fair.
The findings suggest that interventions targeted at reducing job strain may significantly reduce the risk of depression. Further studies are, however, needed to learn why job strain ratio changes over time and how other changes in workplaces affect the risk of major depression.
Major depression is a prevalent mental health problem in the working population and is known to impact on workers' productivity. But it is not clear how changes in the levels of work stress or job strain are related to the risk of major depression.
Researchers from Canada studied 4,866 people to investigate how changes in job strain over time can influence people's likelihood of becoming depressed. All participants reported their job strain status in 1994-1995 and again in 2000-2001. The researchers divided the subjects into four groups: people with low job strain at both the times; people with high job strain at both times; people with low job strain at the first time and high job strain at the second; and people who initially had high job strain and then reported low job strain.
Over a follow up period of 10 years it was found that the workers who initially reported having high-strain jobs but then later reported perceiving their jobs as being less stressful were at the same risk of depression as their peers who worked at low-strain jobs for the entire time.
Among people with consistently high job strain, 8 percent had an episode of depression during the study period, compared to 4 percent of those who had low job strain at both times. For people whose jobs got less stressful, the risk of major depression was 4 percent, compared to 7 percent for people whose jobs became more stressful.
Within the group of people with high job strain at both times, only those who rated their health as good or excellent at the beginning of the study were at a higher risk of depression compared to those who rated their health as poor to fair.
The findings suggest that interventions targeted at reducing job strain may significantly reduce the risk of depression. Further studies are, however, needed to learn why job strain ratio changes over time and how other changes in workplaces affect the risk of major depression.
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