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Updated: May 19, 2026

Social Threat-Safety Test Uncovers Psychosocial Stress-Related Phenotypes
Published on: December 15, 2023
Psychosocial Safety Climate (PSC), Workplace Mental Health (MH) Stigma and Psychological Distress Among Canadian
Shufei Sophia Song1,2, Peter Smith3,4, Amy Zadow1,2
1THE UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE, School of psychology, Hughes North Terrace, Adelaide SA 5005 (S.S. and A.Z.).
Objective:
To examine the association between PSC and psychological distress, and decompose this relationship into direct, indirect and interaction pathways involving workplace MH stigma.
Method:
A cross-sectional survey assessed 999 Canadian workers. Mediation was explored using a model-based potential outcomes approach, while moderation was analysed via logistic regression.
Results:
The risk difference in psychological distress between high- and low-risk PSC environments was 0.122. Of this effect, 66.7% was direct, 12.9% was mediated by stigma, and 20.4% reflected PSC-stigma interaction. The stigma-distress association was stronger in high-risk PSC environments (OR = 3.58 [1.91-6.70]) than in low-risk environments (OR = 2.10 [1.04-4.23]).
Conclusions:
The majority of the association between PSC and distress is not via MH stigma, while the strength of the stigma-distress association varied by PSC level.
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