Change in psychological distress following change in workplace social capital: results from the panel surveys of the J-HOPE study

Abstract

Boosting workplace social capital may promote mental health in the workplace.

Work-unit social capital and long-term sickness absence: a prospective cohort study of 32 053 hospital employees

“…Previous prospective studies from Finland have investigated the link between workplace social capital and health and found that low individual-level workplace social capital was associated with depression,12 13 hypertension (only among men)14 and all-cause mortality,15 but found no associations with work-unit social capital. Further, a prospective Japanese study found that increased workplace social capital was associated with decreased mental distress 1. Another recent Japanese study replicated the findings of Kouvonen  et al 12 and reported that high workplace social capital was a protective factor against the onset of major depressive episodes 16…”

“…There is an increasing interest in identifying resources at workplaces that may help preserve the health and well-being of the employees 1. The concept of social capital could be relevant in this regard, as it refers to features of social organisations including formal and informal networks, participation, reciprocity and interpersonal trust, which facilitate coordination, collaboration and collective action for mutual benefit 2–4.…”

Workplace social capital and the onset of major depressive episode among workers in Japan: a 3-year prospective cohort study

“…The scale score was found to correlate positively with supervisors’ support (r=0.409, p<0.01), coworker support (r=0.459, p<0.01) and collective efficacy (r=0.518, p<0.01), suggesting its convergent validity 21. While the J-HOPE study asked six questions on WSC and all these questions were used to measure WSC in a previous study using the data,9 23 only the three-item scale was fully tested for its reliability and validity until now 22. Respondents were grouped into tertiles (high, middle and low) of WSC.…”

“…The J-HOPE study was conducted in 12 companies 9. However, we used data from one of these companies where the onset of MDE was measured.…”

Social capital and workplace bullying

“…Prospective studies have shown that low (self-reported) individual-level ratings of organizational social capital is associated with higher levels of self-reported depression [39], while low organizational social capital at both the individual and work unit level is associated with higher risks of poor health [40]. A 1-year follow-up study furthermore found that increased workplace social capital was associated with lower levels of psychological distress [41].…”