Work Performance of Employees with Depression: The Impact of Work Stressors

• DOI: 10.4278/ajhp.090313-quan-103
• Publication Date: 2010-06-11T19:19:53Z
• Authors: Debra Lerner; David A. Adler; William H. Rogers; g Chang; Leueen Lapitsky; Thomas McLaughlin; John Reed
• Keywords: Presenteeism; Stressor; Depression; Job control; Longitudinal Study

Purpose. Depressed employees are vulnerable to adverse work outcomes. We hypothesized that performance is impaired by depression and worsened exposure psychosocial stressors. Design. Longitudinal cohort study with surveys administered at baseline, 6, 12, 18 months. Setting. Recruitment in primary care offices. Subjects. A total of 14,268 were screened; 286 depressed, employed adults (18–62 years) 193 controls enrolled. Measures. At-work limitations (presenteeism) absenteeism measured the Work Limitations Questionnaire (WLQ) WLQ Absence Module, respectively. stressors assessed using a modified version Job Content Questionnaire. Analysis. Univariate multivariate tests degree which at-work related and/or stressful work. Results. Presenteeism significantly worse for group each time point (p ≤ .001). In cross-sectional models, presenteeism was associated more severe symptoms, poorer general physical health, psychologically demanding work, interaction depression, less job control (r 2 range = .33–.54). Absences explained symptom severity health but not .19). Because minimal change stressors, their longitudinal effects on outcomes mostly nonsignificant. Conclusion. This found symptoms absences performance, results partly confirmed add this impact. Results suggest workers may benefit from involving medical vocational interventions.