The relationships between work characteristics and mental health: examining normal, reversed and reciprocal relationships in a 4-wave study

Abstract

This longitudinal study examined the causal relationships between job demands, job control and supervisor support on the one hand and mental health on the other. Whereas we assumed that work characteristics affect mental health, we also examined reversed causal relationships (mental health influences work characteristics). Further, the topic of the appropriate time lag for testing causal relationships was addressed. Our hypotheses were tested in a 4-wave study among a heterogeneous sample of 668 Dutch employees using structural equation modelling. The results provide evidence for reciprocal causal relationships between the work characteristics and mental health, although the effects of work characteristics on well-being were causally predominant. The best model fit was found for a 1-year time lag. Compared to earlier */predominantly cross-sectional */results, the present study presents a stronger case for the effects of work characteristics on the development of strain. The results also emphasize the need for a dynamic view of the relationship between work and health; the onedirectional viewpoint in many work stress models does not seem to fully capture the relations between work characteristics and well-being.

Pleasure, Arousal, Dominance: Mehrabian and Russell revisited

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Investigating occupational well-being and leadership from a person-centred longitudinal approach: congruence of well-being and perceived leadership

“…Concerning perceptions, exhausted employees may find it hard to see the leader in positive light. According to de Lange et al (2004), the mechanisms of gloomy perception and rosy perception potentially explain the reversed relations between perceived work characteristics, including supervisor support, and health across time. Beyond employee perceptional issues, leader behaviour towards an exhausted follower may actually be reactive and diminish in positive characteristics, as discussed in one of the early studies on leadership and employee well-being (van Dierendonck et al, 2004).…”

“How Fatigued Do You Currently Feel?” Convergent and Discriminant Validity of a Single‐Item Fatigue Measure

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