Synergistic interaction effect between job control and social support at work on general psychological distress
(2011) In International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health 84(1). p.77-89- Abstract
- Purpose Little is known about the interaction between job control and social support at work on common mental disorders. To examine whether there is a synergistic interaction effect between job control and social support at work on general psychological distress and whether it differs by the level of job demands. Methods About 1,940 male and female workers from the Malmo Shoulder and Neck Study were chosen for this cross-sectional study. Job control, social support at work, and job demands were measured by the Swedish version of the Job Content Questionnaire, and general psychological distress was assessed by the General Health Questionnaire. Results A significant excessive risk increase for general psychological distress was observed when... (More)
- Purpose Little is known about the interaction between job control and social support at work on common mental disorders. To examine whether there is a synergistic interaction effect between job control and social support at work on general psychological distress and whether it differs by the level of job demands. Methods About 1,940 male and female workers from the Malmo Shoulder and Neck Study were chosen for this cross-sectional study. Job control, social support at work, and job demands were measured by the Swedish version of the Job Content Questionnaire, and general psychological distress was assessed by the General Health Questionnaire. Results A significant excessive risk increase for general psychological distress was observed when workers had both low job control and low social support at work in both men and women. The synergistic effect was stronger in women, when job demands were low (Rothman's synergy index was 2.16 vs. 1.51 when job demands were high). However, in male workers, while a strong synergistic effect between job control and social support at work was found when job demands were low (synergy index was 9.25), there was an antagonistic effect when job demands were high (synergy index was 0.52). Conclusions There was a synergistic interaction effect between job control and social support at work on general psychological distress, but the synergistic effect or its effect size differed by the level of job demands and gender. An atomic, additive approach to the risk assessment of the psychosocial work characteristics on common mental disorders could be misleading or lead to a risk underestimation. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/1869275
- author
- Choi, BongKyoo ; Östergren, Per-Olof LU ; Canivet, Catarina LU ; Moghadassi, Mahnaz ; Lindeberg, Sara LU ; Karasek, Robert and Isacsson, Sven-Olof LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2011
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Swedish, Job demands, Psychosocial, Work, Synergy index
- in
- International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health
- volume
- 84
- issue
- 1
- pages
- 77 - 89
- publisher
- Springer
- external identifiers
-
- wos:000286397000009
- scopus:79151471544
- pmid:20582551
- ISSN
- 1432-1246
- DOI
- 10.1007/s00420-010-0554-y
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 9baa293b-b29a-4d28-8084-f0b418289530 (old id 1869275)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 14:19:26
- date last changed
- 2022-03-29 20:24:03
@article{9baa293b-b29a-4d28-8084-f0b418289530,
abstract = {{Purpose Little is known about the interaction between job control and social support at work on common mental disorders. To examine whether there is a synergistic interaction effect between job control and social support at work on general psychological distress and whether it differs by the level of job demands. Methods About 1,940 male and female workers from the Malmo Shoulder and Neck Study were chosen for this cross-sectional study. Job control, social support at work, and job demands were measured by the Swedish version of the Job Content Questionnaire, and general psychological distress was assessed by the General Health Questionnaire. Results A significant excessive risk increase for general psychological distress was observed when workers had both low job control and low social support at work in both men and women. The synergistic effect was stronger in women, when job demands were low (Rothman's synergy index was 2.16 vs. 1.51 when job demands were high). However, in male workers, while a strong synergistic effect between job control and social support at work was found when job demands were low (synergy index was 9.25), there was an antagonistic effect when job demands were high (synergy index was 0.52). Conclusions There was a synergistic interaction effect between job control and social support at work on general psychological distress, but the synergistic effect or its effect size differed by the level of job demands and gender. An atomic, additive approach to the risk assessment of the psychosocial work characteristics on common mental disorders could be misleading or lead to a risk underestimation.}},
author = {{Choi, BongKyoo and Östergren, Per-Olof and Canivet, Catarina and Moghadassi, Mahnaz and Lindeberg, Sara and Karasek, Robert and Isacsson, Sven-Olof}},
issn = {{1432-1246}},
keywords = {{Swedish; Job demands; Psychosocial; Work; Synergy index}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{1}},
pages = {{77--89}},
publisher = {{Springer}},
series = {{International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health}},
title = {{Synergistic interaction effect between job control and social support at work on general psychological distress}},
url = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/3909017/1974304.pdf}},
doi = {{10.1007/s00420-010-0554-y}},
volume = {{84}},
year = {{2011}},
}