Negative emotionality, activity, and sociability temperaments predicting long-term job strain and effort–reward imbalance: A 15-year prospective follow-up study

Abstract Background Work stress may increase risk of long-term sickness absence, but little is known if this association differs by migration background. In this study, we examined the prospective association between effort-reward imbalance at work and risk of long-term sickness absence in individuals with and without migration background in the Danish workforce. Methods We included 59,468 respondents from a nationwide survey on work and health, 3,226 with a migration background (immigrants or first generation descendants of immigrants) and 56,242 without a migration background. Effort-reward imbalance was assessed by self-report. Migration background and long-term sickness absence (spells ≥6 weeks) were assessed by national register data. Using Cox regression, we estimated the association between effort-reward imbalance and onset of long-term sickness absence during 12 months follow-up separately for participants with and without a migration background, adjusted for age, sex, education and previous long-term sickness absence. Results The effort-reward imbalance score at baseline was similar for respondents with and without a migration background. The hazard ratio for long-term sickness absence during follow-up per 1 standard deviation increment in effort-reward imbalance at baseline was 1.26 (95% CI: 1.16-1.37) and 1.16 (95% CI: 1.13-1.20) for respondents with and without a migration background, respectively. Conclusions Work stress, measured by effort-reward imbalance, is associated with an increased risk of long-term sickness absence in workers with and without a migration background in Denmark. Although the estimate was higher in workers with a migration background, confidence intervals overlapped indicating that associations were similar in both groups. The results suggest that prevention activities on effort-reward imbalance and long-term sickness absence should not be prioritized by migration background but should be offered to the whole workforce. Key messages Work stress, measured by effort-reward imbalance, is associated with an increased risk of long-term sickness absence in workers with and without a migration background in Denmark. The results suggest that prevention activities on effort-reward imbalance and long-term sickness absence activities should be offered to the whole workforce.

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Rewards of Compassion: Dispositional Compassion Predicts Lower Job Strain and Effort-Reward Imbalance Over a 11-Year Follow-Up

Frontiers in Psychology ◽

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.730188 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Iina Tolonen ◽

Aino Saarinen ◽

Liisa Keltikangas-Järvinen ◽

Virva Siira ◽

Mika Kähönen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Multilevel Models ◽

Job Strain ◽

Early Adulthood ◽

Well Being ◽

Developmental Trajectory ◽

Individual Factor ◽

Panel Models ◽

Effort Reward Imbalance ◽

Reward Imbalance

Dispositional compassion has been shown to predict higher well-being and to be associated with lower perceived stress and higher social support. Thus, compassion may be a potential individual factor protecting from job strain. The current study examines (i) whether dispositional compassion predicts job strain and effort-reward imbalance (ERI) or does the predictive relationship run from job strain and ERI to dispositional compassion and (ii) the effect of dispositional compassion on the developmental trajectory of job strain and ERI over a 11-year follow-up. We used data from the Young Finns study (n=723) between 2001 and 2012. The direction of the predictive relationships was analyzed with cross-lagged panel models. Compassion’s effect on the trajectories of job strain, ERI, and their components was examined with multilevel models. First, the cross-lagged panel models demonstrated there was no evidence for the predictive pathways between compassion and job strain or its components. However, the predictive pathways from high dispositional compassion to low ERI and high rewards had better fit to the data than the predictive pathways in the opposite direction. In addition, multilevel models showed that high compassion predicted various job characteristics from early adulthood to middle age (lower job strain and higher job control as well as lower ERI and higher reward). Compassion did not predict job demand/effort. The findings were obtained independently of age, gender, and socioeconomic factors in childhood and adulthood. These findings indicate that compassion may be beneficial in work context. Further, compassion might be useful in the management or prevention of some aspects of strain. Our study provides new insight about the role of compassion in work life.

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Effort–reward imbalance and long-term benzodiazepine use: longitudinal findings from the CONSTANCES cohort

Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health ◽

10.1136/jech-2019-212703 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 73 (11) ◽

pp. 993-1001 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Guillaume Airagnes ◽

Cédric Lemogne ◽

Sofiane Kab ◽

Nicolas Hoertel ◽

Marcel Goldberg ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Tobacco Smoking ◽

Population Based ◽

Administrative Databases ◽

Related Factors ◽

The Third ◽

Effort Reward Imbalance ◽

Benzodiazepine Use ◽

Reward Imbalance

ObjectivesTo examine the association between effort–reward imbalance and incident long-term benzodiazepine use (LTBU).MethodsWe included 31 077 employed participants enrolled in the French population-based CONSTANCES cohort between 2012 and 2014 who had not undergone LTBU in the 2 years before enrolment. LTBU was examined using drug reimbursement administrative databases. The effort–reward imbalance was calculated in quartiles. We computed ORs (95% CIs) for LTBU according to effort–reward imbalance over a 2-year follow-up period. We adjusted for age, gender, education, occupational grade, income, marital status, tobacco smoking, risk of alcohol use disorder, depressive symptoms and self-rated health.ResultsOver the 2-year follow-up, 294 (0.9%) participants experienced incident LTBU. In the univariable analysis, effort–reward imbalance was associated with subsequent LTBU with ORs of 1.79 (95% CI 1.23 to 2.62) and 2.73 (95% CI 1.89 to 3.95) for the third and fourth quartiles, respectively, compared with the first quartile. There was no interaction between effort–reward imbalance and any of the considered variables other than tobacco smoking (p=0.033). The association remained significant in both smokers and non-smokers, with higher odds for smokers (p=0.031). In the fully adjusted model, the association remained significant for the third and fourth quartiles, with ORs of 1.74 (95% CI 1.17 to 2.57) and 2.18 (95% CI 1.50 to 3.16), respectively. These associations were dose dependent (p for trend <0.001).ConclusionsEffort–reward imbalance was linked with incident LTBU over a 2-year follow-up period after adjustment for sociodemographic and health-related factors. Thus, screening and prevention of the risk of LTBU should be systematised among individuals experiencing effort–reward imbalance, with special attention paid to smokers.

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