Relationships of work stress and interpersonal needs with industrial workers’ mental health: a moderated mediation model

Abstract

Objectives This study explores whether feelings of defeat (i.e., a sense of failed struggle and losing rank; referred to as defeat for simplicity) mediated the effect of work stress on depression/anxiety, the effect of interpersonal needs on depression/anxiety for Chinese industrial workers, and the possible moderating role of social support. Method A cross-sectional study was conducted in Shenzhen, China in 2019, in total, 2023 industrial workers (of 2700 invited; response rate = 75%) completed a self-administered survey consisted of Job Stress Scale, Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire, Defeat Scale, Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale, two face-valid questions for social support, as well as sociodemographic information. Moderated mediation model was tested and loop plots were applied to probe into the conditional effects of work and interpersonal stress on depression and anxiety symptoms. Result Both the direct and indirect effect of work stress on depression and anxiety through defeat were significant (Work stress→ Depression: B = 0.035, p < .001, Work stress→ Defeat→ Depression: B = 0.034, p < .001; Work stress→ Anxiety: B = 0.038, p < .001, Work stress→ Defeat→ Anxiety: B = 0.045, p < .001). Meanwhile, defeat mediated the relationship of interpersonal needs with depression partially and the relationship of interpersonal needs with anxiety totally (Interpersonal needs→ Anxiety: B = 0.133, p < .001, Interpersonal needs→ Defeat→ Anxiety: B = 0.010, p = .537). Social support moderated the indirect path between interpersonal needs and depression/anxiety and buffered the effect. Conclusion The mediating role of defeat and the moderator role of social support in the relationship between stress and depression/anxiety were confirmed in industrial workers. Workers who reported more work and interpersonal stress would report more defeat feelings, and then exhibited more depression and anxiety symptoms; this mediation effect was stronger for those who had lower social support, respectively.

Design and development of a digital intervention for workplace stress and mental health (EMPOWER)

“…Depression and anxiety have an enormous impact on the well-being of employees, their employers, and society ( GBD 2019 Diseases and Injuries Collaborators, 2020 ). Symptoms of depression and anxiety are related to work stress and lowered productivity while at work, which may have a substantial economic impact ( Adler et al, 2006 ; Wang et al, 2023 ; Lerner et al, 2010 ; Henderson et al, 2011 ; Harvey et al, 2013 ). For example, 51 % of work-related ill health and 55 % of lost workdays reported in the United Kingdom in 2019 were due to anxiety or depression, both of which can be treated successfully and might have been prevented ( Health and Safety Executive, 2020 ).…”