Skip Navigation



American Journal of Epidemiology Advance Access published online on March 29, 2006

American Journal of Epidemiology, doi:10.1093/aje/kwj119
This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
163/10/877    most recent
kwj119v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Rugulies, R.
Right arrow Articles by Burr, H.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Rugulies, R.
Right arrow Articles by Burr, H.
Social Bookmarking
 Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

American Journal of Epidemiology Copyright © 2006 by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health All rights reserved; printed in U.S.A.
Received June 22, 2005
Accepted October 10, 2005

ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS

Psychosocial Work Environment and Incidence of Severe Depressive Symptoms: Prospective Findings from a 5-Year Follow-up of the Danish Work Environment Cohort Study

Reiner Rugulies 1 *, Ute Bültmann 1, Birgit Aust 1, and Hermann Burr 1

1 From the National Institute of Occupational Health, Copenhagen, Denmark

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Reiner Rugulies, E-mail: rer{at}ami.dk


   Abstract

The authors analyzed the impact of psychosocial work characteristics on the incidence of severe depressive symptoms among 4,133 (49% women) employees from a representative sample of the Danish workforce between 1995 and 2000. Psychosocial work characteristics at baseline included quantitative demands, influence at work, possibilities for development, social support from supervisors and coworkers, and job insecurity. Severe depressive symptoms were measured with the five-item Mental Health Inventory of the 36-item Short-Form Health Survey, with a cutoff point of 52. Women with low influence at work (relative risk (RR) = 2.17, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.23, 3.82) and low supervisor support (RR = 2.03, 95% CI: 1.20, 3.43) were at increased risk for severe depressive symptoms after exclusion of cases at baseline and adjustment for sociodemographic factors, baseline depression score, and health behaviors. Further adjustments for socioeconomic position did not change the result substantially. Additional analyses showed that a one-standard deviation increase on the influence scale resulted in a 27% decreased risk of severe depressive symptoms. Among men, job insecurity predicted severe depressive symptoms (RR = 2.04, 95% CI: 1.02, 4.07). The findings indicate that the work environment influences the risk of developing severe depressive symptoms and that different factors play a role for men and women.

Keywords: anxiety; depression; longitudinal studies; mental health; social support; stress, psychological; workplace.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
Occup. Environ. Med.Home page
J P E Bonde
Psychosocial factors at work and risk of depression: a systematic review of the epidemiological evidence
Occup. Environ. Med., July 1, 2008; 65(7): 438 - 445.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Epidemiol RevHome page
B. Netterstrom, N. Conrad, P. Bech, P. Fink, O. Olsen, R. Rugulies, and S. Stansfeld
The Relation between Work-related Psychosocial Factors and the Development of Depression
Epidemiol. Rev., June 27, 2008; (2008) mxn004v1.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Scand J Public HealthHome page
L. Nielsen, T. Curtis, T. S. Kristensen, and N. Rod Nielsen
What characterizes persons with high levels of perceived stress in Denmark? A national representative study
Scand J Public Health, June 1, 2008; 36(4): 369 - 379.
[Abstract] [PDF]


Home page
Eur J Public HealthHome page
U. Bultmann, K. B. Christensen, H. Burr, T. Lund, and R. Rugulies
Severe depressive symptoms as predictor of disability pension: a 10-year follow-up study in Denmark
Eur J Public Health, June 1, 2008; 18(3): 232 - 234.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
J. Epidemiol. Community HealthHome page
R Rugulies, B Aust, H Burr, and U Bultmann
Job insecurity, chances on the labour market and decline in self-rated health in a representative sample of the Danish workforce
J. Epidemiol. Community Health, March 1, 2008; 62(3): 245 - 250.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Am J EpidemiolHome page
R. Rugulies, U. Bultmann, B. Aust, and H. Burr
Rugulies et al. Respond to "Tapping the Tip of the Iceberg"
Am. J. Epidemiol., May 15, 2006; 163(10): 891 - 892.
[Full Text] [PDF]



Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.