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Psychosocial working conditions and depressive symptoms among Swedish employees

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Abstract

Purpose

To investigate prospective associations between working conditions and depressive symptoms in Swedish men and women.

Methods

The study was based on SLOSH (N = 5,985), a follow-up of a representative sample of gainfully employed Swedes 16–64 years of age from the Swedish Work Environment Survey 2003. Work demands, decision authority, support and conflicts at work were measured in 2003. Depressive symptoms were recorded in 2006 by a short version of the depression subscale of the Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90). Linear regression analyses were performed.

Results

After adjusting for an indicator of previous depressive symptoms and covariates, conflicts with fellow workers in men were associated with depressive symptoms, whereas demands (men), support from fellow workers (women), and decision authority predicted lower scores.

Conclusion

The study supports the theory that decision authority, support and conflicts at work are predictive of depressive symptoms in the general Swedish working population.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all participants and Statistics Sweden. The SLOSH project is funded by the Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research (grant no 2005-0734).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Work Organisation and Health, Stress Research Institute, Stockholm, Sweden

    Linda L. Magnusson Hanson, Töres Theorell, Gabriel Oxenstierna & Hugo Westerlund

  2. Psychiatric Research Unit, Frederiksborg General Hospital, Hillerød, Denmark

    Per Bech

  3. Danish National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Reiner Rugulies & Hermann Burr

  4. Department of Sociology, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, UK

    Martin Hyde

Authors
  1. Linda L. Magnusson Hanson
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  2. Töres Theorell
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  3. Per Bech
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  4. Reiner Rugulies
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  5. Hermann Burr
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  6. Martin Hyde
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  7. Gabriel Oxenstierna
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  8. Hugo Westerlund
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Linda L. Magnusson Hanson.

Appendix: Items derived from the 2003 Swedish work environment survey and their response options

Appendix: Items derived from the 2003 Swedish work environment survey and their response options

Demands

  • “Do you sometimes have so much to do that you have to skip lunch, work late, or take work home with you?” (Not at all/Seldom in the last 3 months, A couple of days a month, One day a week, A couple of days a week, Every day)

  • “Is your work sometimes so stressful that you do not have time to talk or even think of anything other than work?” (No, not at all, Some, Roughly ¼ of the time, Half of the time, Roughly 3/4 of the time, Nearly all the time)

  • “Does your work require your undivided attention and concentration?” (No, not at all, Some, Roughly ¼ of the time, Half of the time, Roughly ¾ of the time, Nearly all the time)

  • “How do you experience your work…

  • …far to much to do-far to little to do” (Fully agree to have too much to do, Agree to a certain extent to have too much to do, Neither too much to do nor to little to do, Agree to a certain extent to have to little to do, Fully agree to have too little to do)

Decision authority

  • “Are you involved in planning your work (for example, what is to be done, how it is to be done, or who is to work with you)?” (Never, Mostly not, Mostly, Always)

  • “Is it possible for you to decide on your own when various tasks are to be done (for example, by choosing to work a bit faster some days and taking it easier other days)?” (Never, Mostly not, Mostly, Always)

  • “Is it possible to set your own work tempo?” (No, not at all, Some, Roughly ¼ of the time, Half of the time, Roughly ¾ of the time, Nearly all the time)

  • “How do you experience your work…

  • …to little influence-too much influence” (Fully agree to have too little influence, Agree to a certain extent to have too little influence, Neither too little influence nor too much influence, Agree to a certain extent to have too much influence, Fully agree to have too much influence)

Support

  • “Can you receive support and encouragement from your superiors when your work becomes troublesome?” (Never, Mostly not, Mostly, Always)

  • “Can you receive support and encouragement from your fellow workers when your work becomes troublesome?” (Never, Mostly not, Mostly, Always)

Conflicts

  • “Are you involved in any type of conflict or trouble at work with…

  • …superiors?” (Not at all during the last 12 months, Once or twice during the last 12 months, Sometimes during the last 3 months, A couple of days a month, One day a week, A couple of days a week, Every day)

  • …fellow workers?” (Not at all during the last 12 months, Once or twice during the last 12 months, Sometimes during the last 3 months, A couple of days a month, One day a week, A couple of days a week, Every day)

Depressive symptoms

  • During the last 3 months…

  • “Have you been tired and listless?” (Not at all/Seldom in the last 3 months, A couple of days a month, One day a week, A couple of days a week, Every day)

  • “Does it happen that you feel ill at ease going to your job?” (Not at all/Seldom in the last 3 months, A couple of days a month, One day a week, A couple of days a week, Every day)

  • “Does it happen that after the end of your work day, you feel that your work contributions have been insufficient?” (Not at all/Seldom in the last 3 months, A couple of days a month, One day a week, A couple of days a week, Every day)

  • “Does it happen that you after work are too tired or don’t have enough time for your family, friends or leisure activities?”. (Not at all/Seldom in the last 3 months, A couple of days a month, One day a week, A couple of days a week, Every day)

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Magnusson Hanson, L.L., Theorell, T., Bech, P. et al. Psychosocial working conditions and depressive symptoms among Swedish employees. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 82, 951–960 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-009-0406-9

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