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Published on: February 22, 2018
Mental health effects of changes in psychosocial work characteristics: a prospective cohort study
Lore De Raeve1, Rineke M Vasse, Nicole W H Jansen
1Department of Epidemiology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands. lore.deraeve@epid.unimaas.nl
Objective:
To explore a possible causal relationship between psychosocial work characteristics and mental health.
Methods:
Using longitudinal data from the Maastricht Cohort Study on "Fatigue at Work" (n = 2332), the effects of changes in job demands and decision latitude on subsequent changes in need for recovery and prolonged fatigue were studied.
Results:
Increasing job demands are a significant predictor of a subsequent increase in need for recovery (beta = 0.063) and prolonged fatigue (beta = 0.057). An increase in decision latitude predicted a subsequent decrease in need for recovery (beta = -0.078) and prolonged fatigue (beta = -0.063). After adjusting for changes in other work characteristics, the effects on changes in prolonged fatigue were no longer significant.
Conclusion:
These findings support a possible causal relationship between work characteristics and mental health and can be used for designing effective prevention and intervention strategies.
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