Psychosocial job characteristics, wealth, and culture: differential effects on mental health in the UK and Thailand
Tóm tắt
Most research on the influence of psychosocial job characteristics on health status has been conducted within affluent Western economies. This research addresses the same topic in a middle-income Southeast Asian country, enabling comparison with a Western benchmark. We analysed and compared the Health Survey for England conducted in 2010 and the Thai Cohort Study data at 2005 baseline for workers aged 35–45 years. Multivariate logistic regression was used to assess relationships between psychosocial job characteristics and health, measured as Adjusted Odd Ratios (AOR), controlling for potential covariates in final analyses. In both UK and Thai working adults, psychological distress was associated with job insecurity (AOR 2.58 and 2.32, respectively), inadequate coping with job demands (AOR 2.57 and 2.42), and low support by employers (AOR 1.93 and 1.84). Job autonomy was associated with psychological distress in the UK samples (AOR 2.61) but no relationship was found among Thais after adjusting for covariates (AOR 0.99). Low job security, inability to cope with job demands, and low employer support were associated with psychological distress both among Thai and UK workers. Job autonomy was an important part of a healthy work environment in Western cultures, but not in Thailand. This finding could reflect cultural differences with Thais less troubled by individualistic expression at work. Our study also highlights the implications for relevant workplace laws and regulations to minimise the adverse job effects. These public health strategies would promote mental health and wellbeing in the population.
Tài liệu tham khảo
Laszlo KD, Pikhart H, Kopp MS, Bobak M, Pajak A, Malyutina S. Job insecurity and health: a study of 16 European countries. Soc Sci Med. 2010;70:867–74.
Joensuu M, Kivimaki M, Koskinen A, Kouvonen A, Pulkki-Raback L, Vahtera J. Differential associations of job control components with mortality: a cohort study, 1986–2005. Am J Epidemiol. 2012;175:609–19.
Bosma H, Marmot MG, Hemingway H, Nicholson AC, Brunner E, Stansfeld SA. Low job control and risk of coronary heart disease in Whitehall II (prospective cohort) study. BMJ. 1997;314:558–65.
Steptoe A, Kivimaki M. Stress and cardiovascular disease: an update on current knowledge. Annu Rev Public Health. 2013;34:337–54.
Ferrie JE, Shipley MJ, Stansfeld SA, Marmot MG. Effects of chronic job insecurity and change in job security on self reported health, minor psychiatric morbidity, physiological measures, and health related behaviours in British civil servants: the Whitehall II study. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2002;56:450–4.
Artazcoz L, Cortes I, Escriba-Aguir V, Cascant L, Villegas R. Understanding the relationship of long working hours with health status and health-related behaviours. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2009;63:521–7.
Stansfeld SA, Fuhrer R, Shipley MJ. Types of social support as predictors of psychiatric morbidity in a cohort of British Civil Servants (Whitehall II Study). Psychol Med. 1998;28:881–92.
Cheng Y, Chen CW, Chen CJ, Chiang TL. Job insecurity and its association with health among employees in the Taiwanese general population. Soc Sci Med. 2005;61:41–52.
Inoue A, Kawakami N, Tsuno K, Shimazu A, Tomioka K, Nakanishi M. Job demands, job resources, and work engagement of Japanese employees: a prospective cohort study. Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 2013;86:441–9.
Maizura H, Retneswari M, Moe H, Hoe VC, Bulgiba A. Job strain among Malaysian office workers of a multinational company. Occup Med (Lond). 2010;60:219–24.
Lazzarino AI, Yiengprugsawan V, Seubsman SA, Steptoe A, Sleigh AC. The associations between unhealthy behaviours, mental stress, and low socio-economic status in an international comparison of representative samples from Thailand and England. Global Health. 2014;10:10.
Sleigh AC, Seubsman SA, Bain C. Cohort profile: the Thai Cohort of 87,134 Open University students. Int J Epidemiol. 2008;37:266–72.
Goldberg DP, Gater R, Sartorius N, Ustun TB, Piccinelli M, Gureje O. The validity of two versions of the GHQ in the WHO study of mental illness in general health care. Psychol Med. 1997;27:191–7.
Kessler RC, Barker PR, Colpe LJ, Epstein JF, Gfroerer JC, Hiripi E. Screening for serious mental illness in the general population. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2003;60:184–9.
Yiengprugsawan V, Khamman S, Seubsman SA, Lim LL, Sleigh AC. Social capital and health in a national cohort of 82,482 Open University adults in Thailand. J Health Psychol. 2011;16:632–42.
Yiegprugsawan V, Strazdins L, Lim LL, Kelly M, Seubsman S, Sleigh AC et al. Physically and psychologically hazardous jobs and mental health in Thailand. Health Promot Int. 2013 doi:10.1093/heapro/dat080
Karasek R, Theorell T. Healthy work. New York: Basic Books; 1990.