The moderating role of psychosocial working conditions on the long-term relationship between depressive symptoms and work ability among employees from the Baby Boom generation.

OBJECTIVE: Mental disorders have been identified as a leading cause for reduced work ability in industrialized countries. Identification of workplace factors that can increase the work ability of employees with depressive symptoms from the Baby Boom generation is, therefore, highly relevant. This study thus aims to investigate whether changes in psychosocial working conditions can moderate the negative association between depressive symptoms and work ability. METHODS: Two waves with a 3-year time lag of the German lidA cohort study with 3609 participants born in 1959 and 1965 (aged 46 and 52 years at first wave) were analyzed. Self-report data about depressive symptoms at baseline and changes of working conditions from baseline to follow-up were used to calculate main and interaction effects on perceived work ability at follow-up. These analyses were controlled for baseline work ability and working conditions. RESULTS: Depressive symptoms were predictive for an unfavorable course of work ability from baseline to follow-up (B = - 0.173, 95% CI = - 0.219 to - 0.128). However, no interaction effect between depressive symptoms and psychosocial working conditions was found. Instead, independent from the level of depressive symptoms, a decrease in quantitative demands (B = - 0.279, 95% CI = - 0.326 to - 0.232) and increases in leadership quality (B = 0.242, 95% CI = 0.192-0.292) and development opportunities (B = 0.177, 95% CI = 0.127-0.277) were related to a more favorable course of work ability. Only small effects were found for social support (B = 0.057, 95% CI = 0.008-0.106) and job control (B = 0.043, 95% CI = - 0.005-0.091). CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that the lagged and negative effect of depressive symptoms on work ability was not moderated by changes in psychosocial working conditions. However, the promotion of favorable working conditions may contribute to a positive development of work ability among employees from the Baby Boom generation independently from the level of depressive symptoms.

The Role of Leisure-Time Physical Activity in the Change of Work-Related Stress (ERI) over Time.

BACKGROUND: Every second employee in Europe complains about work-related stress. Occupational stress due to an imbalance between efforts spent and rewards gained (effort-reward imbalance = ERI) is well investigated and it is associated with mental and physical health. A common guess is that leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) has beneficial effects on work-related stress. Yet, evidence in support of this assumption is weak, especially regarding ERI-stress. Longitudinal studies investigating the role of LTPA on ERI are missing. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effect of LTPA on work-related stress by ERI over time. METHODS: 3961 socially insured employees that were born in 1959 or 1965 and working in the first (t1: 2011) and second wave (t2: 2014) of the lidA-study were included. Work-related stress was measured by ERI, LTPA by the self-rated weekly frequency of physical activities. Besides the direct effect, a moderating effect of LTPA on ERI over time was tested in the multiple linear regression analysis. RESULTS: The ERI at t1 was strongly associated with ERI at t2. While LTPA had no direct effect on ERI(t2), it was a significant moderator of ERI from t1 to t2: The higher the frequency of LTPA, the lower ERI was over time. This interaction of LTPA with ERI remained after adjustment for socio-demographic factors. CONCLUSIONS: The long-term moderating effect of LTPA on ERI is in agreement with former investigations on the role of LTPA on work-related stress, generally, and on its cross-sectional effect on ERI-stress, specifically. Some of Hill's criteria of a causal association in epidemiology (biological gradient, temporality, consistency) support our findings. As LTPA has also been shown to exert a protective effect on health outcomes that are associated with ERI, the moderation of ERI by LTPA could partly explain this protective effect. Future observational and interventional studies are required to support our results over more than two age groups and study times.

Prognostic effects of selection, optimization and compensation strategies on work ability: results from the representative lidA cohort study on work, age, and health in Germany.

PURPOSE: Regarding the increased need for the retention of older employees in the workforce, this study investigates whether there are main and interactive longitudinal effects of selection, optimization, compensation and working conditions according to the job demand-control model on work ability in older employees. METHODS: Longitudinal data of computer-assisted personal interviews with one follow-up after 3 years of 3961 participants (born in 1959 and 1965) of the representative German lidA cohort study was used. Multiple linear regressions were performed, analyzing prospective main and interactive effects of selection, optimization, compensation and working conditions during baseline on perceived work ability at follow-up. RESULTS: Regarding selection, optimization and compensation, only compensation had a positive, but weak effect on work ability. Working conditions were more strongly related to work ability: decision authority and skill discretion had independent positive and job demands had independent negative effects on work ability. One interaction effect was observed between loss-based selection and decision authority, such that they mutually enhanced their positive effects on work ability. Only few and weak interactions among the sub-strategies, selection, optimization and compensation, were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate that especially favorable working conditions in terms of high job control and low job demands, but also compensation might help older employees to maintain work ability.