Association between workplace cooperation and depressive symptoms differs according to employment type: the 7th...

The relationship between workplace cooperation and mental health has gained increasing attention. However, the extent to which employment type moderates the association between workplace cooperation and depressive symptoms remains underexplored. The present study aimed to investigate the association between workplace cooperation, depressive symptoms, and employment type among South Korean wage workers.

The present work analyzed data from the 7th Korean Working Conditions Survey (KWCS), including 25,259 wage workers aged 20 years and older. Employment type was categorized as one of regular, temporary, or daily laborer. Workplace cooperation was assessed using a five-point Likert scale item regarding cooperation among colleagues. Depressive symptoms were measured using the World Health Organization (WHO)-5 Well-Being Index. Multivariable logistic and linear regression analyses were conducted to evaluate the association between workplace cooperation and depressive symptoms or the WHO-5 Well-Being Index.

Cooperation was significantly associated with lower odds of depressive symptoms in regular workers (odds ratio [OR]: 0.538; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.498-0.581), temporary workers (OR: 0.666; 95% CI: 0.561-0.790), and daily laborers (OR: 0.479; 95% CI: 0.339-0.679). The association between workplace cooperation and depressive symptoms differed significantly by employment type (interaction p = 0.016 for temporary vs. regular workers): the inverse association was weaker among temporary workers than among regular workers (interaction OR: 1.261; 95% CI: 1.045-1.522), whereas no significant difference was observed between regular workers and daily laborers (interaction OR: 0.912; 95% CI: 0.651-1.279; p = 0.595).

Workplace cooperation was significantly associated with lower odds of depressive symptoms across all employment types, but the magnitude of this protection varies significantly by employment status.