Do the effects of job stressors on health persist over time? A longitudinal study with observational stressor measures.

Observational work analyses were conducted among 222 office workers (131 women, 91 men) from 12 German companies to measure stressors independently of worker appraisal. Stressors were determined twice (1990, 1991), along with 7 health indicators separately assessed by questionnaire. Health indicators were assessed again in 1992 and once more in 1998. This 2-wave, 2-variable design with 2 follow-up measurements of health indicators determines (a) the causal directions using cross-lagged partial correlations (stressors seem to have an impact on health); (b) the strength of the impact (cross-lagged correlations for Waves 1 to 4 range from .18<r<.41); and (c) the persistence of stressor effects for 5 of 7 indicators after 8 years (.21<r<.34). ((c) 2005 APA, all rights reserved).