Can work make you mentally ill? A systematic meta-review of work-related risk factors for common mental health problems

Abstract

It has been suggested that certain types of work may increase the risk of common mental disorders, but the exact nature of the relationship has been contentious. The aim of this paper is to conduct the first comprehensive systematic meta-review of the evidence linking work to the development of common mental health problems, specifically depression, anxiety and/or work-related stress and to consider how the risk factors identified may relate to each other. MEDLINE, PsychInfo, Embase, the Cochrane Collaboration and grey literature databases were systematically searched for review articles that examined work-based risk factors for common mental health problems. All included reviews were subjected to a quality appraisal. 37 review studies were identified, of which 7 were at least moderate quality. 3 broad categories of work-related factors were identified to explain how work may contribute to the development of depression and/or anxiety: imbalanced job design, occupational uncertainty and lack of value and respect in the workplace. Within these broad categories, there was moderate level evidence from multiple prospective studies that high job demands, low job control, high effort-reward imbalance, low relational justice, low procedural justice, role stress, bullying and low social support in the workplace are associated with a greater risk of developing common mental health problems. While methodological limitations continue to preclude more definitive statements on causation between work and mental disorders, there is now a range of promising targets for individual and organisational-level interventions aimed at minimising mental health problems in the workplace.

Disability retirement among university public servants: epidemiological profile and causes

“…Yet, in a systematic review study, he identified that psychological harassment, high demands and low labor control, imbalance in work environment between effort and reward, low relational and procedural justice, stress, and poor social support in the workplace present as risk factors for depression, anxiety, and work-related stress (34) . The risk factors listed can be identified in the work of the public servant, where in spite of the stability of employment, they experience shortages of human and material resources, causing overload and accumulation of functions, bureaucratic and hierarchical management, as well as uncertainties regarding the transition of governments (35) .…”

Evaluation of a Tai Chi Intervention to Promote Well-Being in Healthcare Staff: A Pilot Study

“…Workplaces are an integral setting for improving health (Black and Frost 2011), and workplace-health-based interventions have been shown to reduce the burden of illness to both employees and the employer. Furthermore, it is often assumed that mental health problems only develop outside of the workplace and are not the responsibility of the employer, but there is growing evidence that poor psychosocial working conditions, commonly referred to as "job stressors," can increase the risk for developing symptoms, including depression, anxiety, burnout, and distress (Harvey et al 2017;Joyce et al 2016). Offering wellbeing intervention to staff such as the Tai Chi practice described in this study goes some way in offering an effective way to address these ongoing concerns.…”

NIPSA: a new scale for measuring non-illness predictors of sickness absence

“…A total of 42 questions were developed, which covered the following topics: perceived vulnerability, attitude towards employment, the psychosocial work environment, relationship with employer, coping style at work and response to symptoms. The choice of which psychosocial work risk factors to include was informed by a systematic review on this topic, which our research team was conducting at the same time 26. The selections of the other domains covered were based on a series of conversations with colleagues familiar with each topic area.…”