Interpreting Subjective and Objective Measures of Job Resources: The Importance of Sociodemographic Context.

Salutary retirement policy depends on a clear understanding of factors in the workplace that contribute to work ability at older ages. Research in occupational health typically uses either self-reported or objective ratings of the work environment to assess workplace determinants of health and work ability. This study assessed whether individual characteristics and work-related demands were differentially associated with (1) self-reported ratings of job resources from older workers in the Health and Retirement Study, and (2) corresponding objective ratings of job resources from the Occupational Information Network (O*NET). Results from regression and relative weights analyses showed that self-reported ratings were associated with self-reported job demands and personal resources, whereas corresponding O*NET ratings were associated with differences in gender, race, or socioeconomic standing. As a result, subjective ratings may not capture important aspects of aging workers' sociodemographic background that influence work ability, occupational sorting, opportunities for advancement, and ultimately the job resources available to them. Future studies should consider including both subjective and objective measures to capture individual and societal level processes that drive the relationship between work, health, and aging.

Structural racism in the workplace: Does perception matter for health inequalities?

Structural racism has been linked to racial health inequalities and may operate through an unequal labor market that results in inequalities in psychosocial workplace environments (PWE). Experiences of the PWE may be a critical but understudied source of racial health disparities as most adults spend a large portion of their lives in the workplace, and work-related stress affects health outcomes. Further, it is not clear if the objective characteristics of the workplace are important for health inequalities or if these inequalities are driven by the perception of the workplace. Using data from the 2008 to 2012 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a probability-based sample of US adults 50 years of age and older and the Department of Labor's Occupational Information Network (O*NET), we examine the role of both standardized, objective (O*NET) and survey-based, subjective (as in HRS) measures of PWEs on health and Black-White health inequalities. We find that Blacks experience more stressful PWEs and have poorer health as measured by self-rated health, episodic memory function, and mean arterial pressure. Mediation analyses suggest that these objective O*NET ratings, but not the subjective perceptions, partially explain the relationship between race and health. We discuss these results within the extant literature on workplace and health and health inequalities. Furthermore, we discuss the use of standardized objective measures of the PWE to capture racial inequalities in workplace environment.

Burnout and Engagement: Relative Importance of Predictors and Outcomes in Two Health Care Worker Samples.

This study's purpose was twofold: first, to examine the relative importance of job demands and resources as predictors of burnout and engagement, and second, the relative importance of engagement and burnout related to health, depressive symptoms, work ability, organizational commitment, and turnover intentions in two samples of health care workers. Nurse leaders ( n = 162) and licensed emergency medical technicians (EMTs; n = 102) completed surveys. In both samples, job demands predicted burnout more strongly than job resources, and job resources predicted engagement more strongly than job demands. Engagement held more weight than burnout for predicting commitment, and burnout held more weight for predicting health outcomes, depressive symptoms, and work ability. Results have implications for the design, evaluation, and effectiveness of workplace interventions to reduce burnout and improve engagement among health care workers. Actionable recommendations for increasing engagement and decreasing burnout in health care organizations are provided.