Association between Emotional Symptoms and Job Demands in an Asian Electronics Factory

Abstract

Various work-related issues including mental health have been described for the electronic industry. Although East Asian countries play important roles in the electronics industry, the association between job demands and emotional symptoms has been rarely examined. The present study recruited 603 workers from either office or clean room environments in an electronics factory in Taiwan. Their personal factors, work-related factors, and emotional symptoms were assessed by a self-administered questionnaire. The symptoms of depression and hostility were reported in 24.88% and 24.38% of the subjects, respectively, while 14.93% reported both. A multivariate analysis showed that, overall, women workers were more likely to have emotional symptoms than male workers (odds ration (OR) = 1.50, 95% CI = 1.02-2.18). Among clean room workers, working under high pressure (OR = 1.84, 95% CI = 1.05-3.21), conflicting demands (OR = 2.15, 95% CI = 1.30-3.57), and social isolation at work (OR = 2.99, 95% CI = 1.23-7.30) were associated with emotional symptoms. The findings suggest that in the Asian electronics industry, for women, working under high pressure, conflicting demands, and social isolation at work are risk factors for emotional symptoms, especially for clean room workers. Further large-scale, longitudinal studies are necessary to confirm and prevent the mental health problems in this fast-evolving, highly competitive industry.

A Multilevel Analysis of Job Characteristics, Emotion Regulation, and Teacher Well-Being: A Job Demands-Resources Model

“…It has been shown that job demands were positively related to employees' trait anxiety (Richardsen et al, 1992 ) or work anxiety (Maria et al, 2018 ). Emotional job demands were also found to be significantly related to employees' depressive symptoms and emotional exhaustion (Huang et al, 2017 ; Thuynsma and De Beer, 2017 ; Maria et al, 2018 ). In the context of schooling, Yin et al ( 2016 ) also reported that the emotional job demands of teaching were positively related to teachers' emotional exhaustion and negatively related to teaching satisfaction.…”

Work-related and personal factors in shoulder disorders among electronics workers: findings from an electronics enterprise in Taiwan

“…Over 800,000 employers belonged to the industry in Taiwan in 2016 [ 2 ]. In addition to chemical and physical hazards, the work environment of the industry may contain ergonomic hazards, such as repetition, lifting, and awkward posture [ 3 – 6 ], making the population vulnerable to developing musculoskeletal disorders.…”

“…Furthermore, the electronics industry is known for its rapid technological innovation, global competition, operation on shift work, and performance-based pay systems [ 3 , 15 ]. The association between psychological stress and psychological problems in the industry has been identified [ 6 ], but very few studies have investigated the psychosocial risk factors for shoulder disorders.…”

Work-Related and Personal Factors in Shoulder Disorders Among Electronics Workers

“…Furthermore, the electronics industry is known for its rapid technological innovation, global competition, operating on shift work, and performance-based pay systems [3,15]. The association between psychological stress and psychological problems in the industry has been identi ed [6], but very few studies investigated the psychosocial risk factors for shoulder disorders.…”

“…Over 800,000 employers belong to the industry in Taiwan in 2016 [2]. Besides chemical and physical hazards, the work environment of the industry may contain ergonomic hazards, such as repetition, lifting, and awkward posture [3][4][5][6], making the population vulnerable to develop musculoskeletal disorders.…”