Richard Peter1, Stefanie March2, Jean-Baptist du Prel3. 1. Institute of the History, Philosophy and Ethics of Medicine, Ulm University, Parkstrasse 11, 89073 Ulm, Germany. Electronic address: richard.peter@uni-ulm.de. 2. Institute of Social Medicine and Health Economics, Otto-von-Guericke-University of Magdeburg, Leipziger Str. 44, 39120 Magdeburg, Germany. Electronic address: stefanie.march@med.ovgu.de. 3. Institute of the History, Philosophy and Ethics of Medicine, Ulm University, Parkstrasse 11, 89073 Ulm, Germany. Electronic address: jean-baptist.du-prel@uni-ulm.de.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Depressive symptoms are common and economically relevant. Women suffer more often than men do. We analyze associations between social status inconsistency, psychosocial factors, and depressive symptoms stratified by gender. METHODS: In the present study, 3340 employees of two age cohorts (1959, 1965) working in two waves (2011, 2014) of the prospective German lidA-study and who gave written consent to link register data regarding their employment histories were included. Gender-specific influences of social status inconsistency (deviation of observed income from expected average income based on acquired education) on depressive symptoms and mediation of these associations by work stress in terms of effort-reward-imbalance (ERI) and work-family-conflict (WFC) were analyzed with confirmatory cross-lagged path models. RESULTS: Among men, consistent status (i.e., average income in a specific educational group) increased the frequency of depressive symptoms. No association between negative SSI (i.e., income below the average income given a specific educational attainment) or positive SSI (i.e., income above the average income given a specific educational attainment) and depressive symptoms was observed among men or women. ERI and WFC were longitudinally associated with the outcome and differed slightly regarding gender, i.e., showing stronger effects of ERI for women and of WFC for men. Mediation of the association between social status and depressive symptoms was observed for men and for consistent status (path: consistent status → ERI → depressive symptoms) but not for SSI. CONCLUSIONS: ERI and WFC increase the risk of future episodes with depressive symptoms in men and in women irrespective of SSI, occupational position, full- or part-time work, regional factors or individual characteristics.
BACKGROUND:Depressive symptoms are common and economically relevant. Women suffer more often than men do. We analyze associations between social status inconsistency, psychosocial factors, and depressive symptoms stratified by gender. METHODS: In the present study, 3340 employees of two age cohorts (1959, 1965) working in two waves (2011, 2014) of the prospective German lidA-study and who gave written consent to link register data regarding their employment histories were included. Gender-specific influences of social status inconsistency (deviation of observed income from expected average income based on acquired education) on depressive symptoms and mediation of these associations by work stress in terms of effort-reward-imbalance (ERI) and work-family-conflict (WFC) were analyzed with confirmatory cross-lagged path models. RESULTS: Among men, consistent status (i.e., average income in a specific educational group) increased the frequency of depressive symptoms. No association between negative SSI (i.e., income below the average income given a specific educational attainment) or positive SSI (i.e., income above the average income given a specific educational attainment) and depressive symptoms was observed among men or women. ERI and WFC were longitudinally associated with the outcome and differed slightly regarding gender, i.e., showing stronger effects of ERI for women and of WFC for men. Mediation of the association between social status and depressive symptoms was observed for men and for consistent status (path: consistent status → ERI → depressive symptoms) but not for SSI. CONCLUSIONS: ERI and WFC increase the risk of future episodes with depressive symptoms in men and in women irrespective of SSI, occupational position, full- or part-time work, regional factors or individual characteristics.
Authors: Jean-Baptist du Prel; Roma Runeson-Broberg; Peter Westerholm; Lars Alfredsson; Göran Fahlén; Anders Knutsson; Maria Nordin; Richard Peter Journal: Int Arch Occup Environ Health Date: 2017-08-11 Impact factor: 3.015
Authors: Susana García-Herrero; Jose R Lopez-Garcia; Sixto Herrera; Ignacio Fontaneda; Sonia Muñoz Báscones; Miguel A Mariscal Journal: Biomed Res Int Date: 2017-11-09 Impact factor: 3.411
Authors: Jesús P Barrero; Eva M López-Perea; Sixto Herrera; Miguel A Mariscal; Susana García-Herrero Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2020-10-31 Impact factor: 3.390