Work, Stress and Illness Flashcards
What does the concept of ‘work stress’?
objective factors
subjective factors
involved in work relationship that generate stress
What was formally recognised in the Acheson Report (1998)?
importance of work stress to health outcomes
this was later acknowledged in recommendations set out in the last government’s public policy:
‘White paper, Choosing Health: making healthy choices easier (2004)’
What is the job strain/work stress model?
The theoretical understanding of the relationship that exists between work variables, psychological stress and ill-health was first developed in Karasek and Theorell’s highly influential ‘Demand-Control-Support’ (DCS) model (1990).
What does the Demand-Control support (DCS) model propose that job strain is caused by?
high job demands in combination with
low job control and
low social support from colleagues / managers.
What are the main considerations of the Demand-Control support (DCS) model?
All must be met to meet criteria of model
Model says that having responsibilities are actually beneficial against work-related stress
3 criteria are assessed by the LIKERT scale (allows quantification of answers and therefore allows statistical analysis to be performed)
What does the JOB CONTROL variable consist of?
decision authority (being able to choose when and how tasks are completed)
skill discretion (whether a job is boring or repetitive, and the extent to which skills can be used and developed).
What does the job strain model seek to correlate their data with?
indicators of psychological well-being and physical health
What is a key assumption of the Demand-Control support (DCS) model?
job stress variables are inherently pathogenic
And that these can be separated from the personal attributes and characteristics of the individual worker
What is the main drawback with the Demand-Control support (DCS) model?
Model cannot assess individual characteristics
And how this may impact whether a variable is perceived to pathogenic
What is the main strength of Demand-Control support (DCS) model?
Good at assessing workspace-related objective variables
What evidence supports the claim that DCS model can predict relationship between work stress and health outcomes?
Whitehall I, II: Marmot et al (1978, 1991)
impact of psychosocial factors upon stress
different grades of staff in CHD mortality
Bosma (1997)
effect of low job control was associated with increased stress - known risk factor for CHD
What did Bosma et al 1999 conclude on PERCEIVED CONTROL in relation to th DCS model?
low socioeconomic status was related to mortality
this is at least partly due to a low level of PERCEIVED CONTROL
What did Kivimaki et al 2000 conclude in relation to the DCS model?
increase in sickness absence, mediated by:
- heightened job insecurity
- subsequent increase in job demands
- lowering of job control
What did Cheng et al 2000 conclude in relation to the DCS model?
decline in health functioning associated with job strain as as much as the effects mediated through smoking and sedentary lifestyles
What are the main critiques of the DCS model?
- ‘stress related personal injury’ treated as a unmediated effect of work
- high job demands, low job control and low social support are inherently pathogenic [ASSUMPTION]
- chooses to take into account only the variable that can be measured and quantified (objective parameters)
- perceptions of worker are not considered
- fails to grasp role of CONSCIOUSNESS in mediating relationship between work stress and health outcomes
