Seasonal patterns of sickness absence due to diagnosed mental disorders: a nationwide 12-year register linkage study.

AIMS: Although seasonality has been documented for mental disorders, it is unknown whether similar patterns can be observed in employee sickness absence from work due to a wide range of mental disorders with different severity level, and to what extent the rate of change in light exposure plays a role. To address these limitations, we used daily based sickness absence records to examine seasonal patterns in employee sickness absence due to mental disorders. METHODS: We used nationwide diagnosis-specific psychiatric sickness absence claims data from 2006 to 2017 for adult individuals aged 16-67 (n = 636,543 sickness absence episodes) in Finland, a high-latitude country with a profound variation in daylength. The smoothed time-series of the ratio of observed and expected (O/E) daily counts of episodes were estimated, adjusted for variation in all-cause sickness absence rates during the year. RESULTS: Unipolar depressive disorders peaked in October-November and dipped in July, with similar associations in all forms of depression. Also, anxiety and non-organic sleep disorders peaked in October-November. Anxiety disorders dipped in January-February and in July-August, while non-organic sleep disorders dipped in April-August. Manic episodes reached a peak from March to July and dipped in September-November and in January-February. Seasonality was not dependent on the severity of the depressive disorder. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest a seasonal variation in sickness absence due to common mental disorders and bipolar disorder, with high peaks in depressive, anxiety and sleep disorders towards the end of the year and a peak in manic episodes starting in spring. Rapid changes in light exposure may contribute to sickness absence due to bipolar disorder. The findings can help clinicians and workplaces prepare for seasonal variations in healthcare needs.

The relative importance of work-related psychosocial factors in physician burnout.

BACKGROUND: Identifying the most significant risk factors for physician burnout can help to define the priority areas for burnout prevention. However, not much is known about the relative importance of these risk factors. AIMS: This study was aimed to examine the relative importance of multiple work-related psychosocial factors in predicting burnout dimensions among physicians. METHODS: In a cross-sectional sample of 2423 Finnish physicians, dominance analysis was used to estimate the proportionate contribution of psychosocial factors to emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment. The psychosocial factors included job demands (time pressure, patient-related stress, lack of support, stress related to information systems, work-family conflict) and job resources (job control, team climate, organizational justice). RESULTS: Together, psychosocial factors explained 50% of the variance in emotional exhaustion, 24% in depersonalization and 11% in reduced professional efficacy. Time pressure was the most important predictor of emotional exhaustion (change in total variance explained ΔR2 = 45%), and patient-related stress was the most important predictor of both depersonalization (ΔR2 = 52%) and reduced professional accomplishment (ΔR2 = 23%). Stress related to information systems was the least important predictor of the burnout dimensions (ΔR2 = 1-2%). CONCLUSIONS: Psychosocial factors in physicians' work are differently associated with the dimensions of burnout. Among the factors, the most significant correlates of burnout are job demands in the form of time pressure and patient-related stress.

Mental disorders and long-term labour market outcomes: nationwide cohort study of 2 055 720 individuals.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the associations between an onset of serious mental disorders before the age of 25 with subsequent employment, income and education outcomes. METHODS: Nationwide cohort study including individuals (n = 2 055 720) living in Finland between 1988-2015, who were alive at the end of the year they turned 25. Mental disorder diagnosis between ages 15 and 25 was used as the exposure. The level of education, employment status, annual wage or self-employment earnings, and annual total income between ages 25 and 52 (measurement years 1988-2015) were used as the outcomes. RESULTS: All serious mental disorders were associated with increased risk of not being employed and not having any secondary or higher education between ages 25 and 52. The earnings for individuals with serious mental disorders were considerably low, and the annual median total income remained rather stable between ages 25 and 52 for most of the mental disorder groups. CONCLUSIONS: Serious mental disorders are associated with low employment rates and poor educational outcomes, leading to a substantial loss of total earnings over the life course.

Education as a moderator of genetic risk for higher body mass index: prospective cohort study from childhood to adulthood.

OBJECTIVES: The life-course development of body mass index (BMI) may be driven by interactions between genes and obesity-inducing social environments. We examined whether lower parental or own education accentuates the genetic risk for higher BMI over the life course, and whether diet and physical activity account for the educational differences in genetic associations with BMI. SUBJECTS/METHODS: The study comprised 2441 participants (1319 women, 3-18 years at baseline) from the prospective, population-based Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study. BMI (kg/m2) trajectories were calculated from 18 to 49 years, using data from six time points spanning 31 years. A polygenic risk score for BMI was calculated as a weighted sum of risk alleles in 97 single-nucleotide polymorphisms. Education was assessed via self-reports, measured prospectively from participants in adulthood and from parents when participants were children. Diet and physical activity were self-reported in adulthood. RESULTS: Mean BMI increased from 22.6 to 26.6 kg/m2 during the follow-up. In growth curve analyses, the genetic risk score was associated with faster BMI increase over time (b=0.02, (95% CI, 0.01-0.02, P<0.001)). The association between the genetic risk score and BMI was more pronounced among those with lower educational level in adulthood (b=-0.12 (95% CI, -0.23-0.01); P=0.036)). No interaction effect was observed between the genetic risk score and parental education (b=0.05 (95% CI, -0.09-0.18; P=0.51)). Diet and physical activity explained little of the interaction effect between the genetic risk score and adulthood education. CONCLUSIONS: In this prospective study, the association of a risk score of 97 genetic variants with BMI was stronger among those with low compared with high education. This suggests lower education in adulthood accentuates the risk of higher BMI in people at genetic risk.

Work stress, poor recovery and burnout in teachers.

BACKGROUND: Both work stress and poor recovery have been shown to contribute to the development of burnout. However, the role of recovery as a mediating mechanism that links work stress to burnout has not been sufficiently addressed in research. AIMS: To examine recovery as a mediator in the relationship between work stress and burnout among teachers. METHODS: A cross-sectional study of Finnish primary school teachers, in whom burnout was measured with the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey and work stress was conceptualized using the effort-reward imbalance (ERI) model. Recovery was measured with the Recovery Experience Questionnaire and the Jenkins Sleep Problems Scale. Multiple linear regression analyses and bootstrap mediation analyses adjusted for age, gender and total working hours were performed. RESULTS: Among the 76 study subjects, high ERI was associated with burnout and its dimensions of exhaustion, cynicism and reduced professional efficacy. Poor recovery experiences, in terms of low relaxation during leisure time, partially mediated the relationship between ERI and reduced professional efficacy. Sleep problems, in the form of non-restorative sleep, partially mediated the relationship between ERI and both burnout and exhaustion. CONCLUSIONS: Supporting a balance between effort and reward at work may enhance leisure time recovery and improve sleep quality, as well as help to reduce burnout rates.

Associations of temporal and energetic characteristics of behavior with depressive symptoms: A population-based longitudinal study within Strelau's Regulative Theory of Temperament.

BACKGROUND: Individual dispositions have previously been associated with increased risk for depressive symptoms. The direction of the association has been found to be sometimes reciprocal. We examined whether temperament traits are associated with depressive symptoms and whether depressive symptoms contribute to changes in temperament. METHODS: Participants (n=674-811) were from a population-based Young Finns Study. Temperament was assessed by a Finnish version of the Formal Characteristics of Behavior - Temperament Inventory. Depressive symptoms were assessed with modified BDI (mBDI) in 1997, 2001, 2007 and 2012, and BDI-II in 2012. RESULTS: Higher perseveration and emotional reactivity were associated with higher level of depressive symptoms, and higher endurance was associated with lower level of depressive symptoms in 2007 and 2012. These associations were independent of several potential confounders and baseline depressive symptoms. The results of cross-lagged structural equation modeling showed that the associations between temperament and depressive symptoms were reciprocal: briskness, endurance and activity decreased the risk for depressive symptoms while depressive symptoms decreased the level of these characteristics. Perseveration, emotional reactivity and depressive symptoms reinforced each other over time. LIMITATIONS: The depressive symptoms scales we used are not meant for measuring clinically diagnosed depression. The relationships between temperament traits and depressive symptoms were not strong enough to provide a clinical basis for guiding treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Lower perseveration, lower emotional reactivity and higher endurance seem to be health protective temperament characteristics that reduce the risk for depressive symptoms. The reciprocal associations between temperament and depressive symptoms imply mutual health protective and health declining effects. Clinical relevance of the study is that enhancing positive loops and self-concept, and supporting individual stress management might be helpful in prevention of depressive symptoms.

Higher effort-reward imbalance and lower job control predict exit from the labour market at the age of 61†years or younger: evidence from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

BACKGROUND: We examined whether higher effort-reward imbalance (ERI) and lower job control are associated with exit from the labour market. METHODS: There were 1263 participants aged 50-74 years from the English Longitudinal Study on Ageing with data on working status and work-related psychosocial factors at baseline (wave 2; 2004-2005), and working status at follow-up (wave 5; 2010-2011). Psychosocial factors at work were assessed using a short validated version of ERI and job control. An allostatic load index was formed using 13 biological parameters. Depressive symptoms were measured using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Exit from the labour market was defined as not working in the labour market when 61 years old or younger in 2010-2011. RESULTS: Higher ERI OR=1.62 (95% CI 1.01 to 2.61, p=0.048) predicted exit from the labour market independent of age, sex, education, occupational class, allostatic load and depression. Job control OR=0.60 (95% CI 0.42 to 0.85, p=0.004) was associated with exit from the labour market independent of age, sex, education, occupation and depression. The association of higher effort OR=1.32 (95% CI 1.01 to 1.73, p=0.045) with exit from the labour market was independent of age, sex and depression but attenuated to non-significance when additionally controlling for socioeconomic measures. Reward was not related to exit from the labour market. CONCLUSIONS: Stressful work conditions can be a risk for exiting the labour market before the age of 61 years. Neither socioeconomic position nor allostatic load and depressive symptoms seem to explain this association.

On-call work and physicians' well-being: testing the potential mediators.

BACKGROUND: On-call duties have been rated to be among the most stressful aspects of physicians' work. On-call work has been associated, for example, with medical errors, injuries and lower well-being. Thus, because it is not possible to remove on-call duties, measures to decrease the negative ramifications of on-call work are needed. AIMS: To examine whether working on-call would predict psychological distress, job satisfaction and work ability in a 4-year follow-up and whether sleeping problems or work interference with family (WIF) would act as mechanisms in these associations. METHODS: Questionnaires in 2006 and 2010 among physicians in Finland. The mediation analyses were conducted using methods suggested by Preacher and Hayes to examine direct and indirect effects with multiple mediators. RESULTS: There were 1541 respondents (60% women) of whom 52% had on-call duties. Sleeping problems and WIF acted as mechanisms in the association of existence of on-call duties with high distress, low job satisfaction and low work ability. On-call work was associated with higher levels of sleeping problems and WIF, and the number of active on-call hours was associated with higher levels of WIF, but not with sleeping problems. CONCLUSIONS: According to our results, one way to attenuate on-call work's negative ramifications is to make it easier for on-call physicians to connect work and family lives and develop work arrangements to promote better sleep and protected sleep time.

Is personality associated with cancer incidence and mortality? An individual-participant meta-analysis of 2156 incident cancer cases among 42,843 men and women.

BACKGROUND: The putative role of personality in cancer risk has been controversial, and the evidence remains inconclusive. METHODS: We pooled data from six prospective cohort studies (British Household Panel Survey; Health and Retirement Study; Household, Income, and Labour Dynamics in Australia; Midlife in the United Survey; Wisconsin Longitudinal Study Graduate; and Sibling samples) for an individual-participant meta-analysis to examine whether personality traits of the Five Factor Model (extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience) were associated with the incidence of cancer and cancer mortality in 42,843 cancer-free men and women at baseline (mean age 52.2 years, 55.6% women). RESULTS: During an average follow-up of 5.4 years, there were 2156 incident cancer cases. In random-effects meta-analysis adjusted for age, sex, and race/ethnicity, none of the personality traits were associated with the incidence of all cancers or any of the six site-specific cancers included in the analysis (lung, colon, breast, prostate, skin, and leukaemia/lymphoma). In the three cohorts with cause-specific mortality data (421 cancer deaths among 21,835 participants), none of the personality traits were associated with cancer mortality. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that personality is not associated with increased risk of incident cancer or cancer-related mortality.

Treatment of depression in diagnosed diabetes: common cause or detection bias?

BACKGROUND: This study examined two competing hypotheses concerning the association between diabetes and treatment for depression: (1) the detection/ascertainment bias hypothesis suggesting that those with diabetes are more likely to be diagnosed with and treated for depression because of increased medical attention and (2) a hypothesis assuming that diabetes and depression share common underlying pathophysiological pathways. METHOD: The study population included all persons aged 35-65 years in Finland with any record of type 2 diabetes in the national health and population registers from 1999 to 2002 and for whom register-based data on depression treatment (antidepressant medication use and hospitalizations for depression) were available at least 2 years before and after the diagnosis of diabetes (n = 18,217). Sociodemographic data were individually linked to the study population. Associations between diabetes diagnosis and time and indicators of depression care were assessed with population-averaged multilevel logistic models. RESULTS: Within the year following diagnosis diabetes, there was a 5% increase in antidepressant medication use but not in hospitalization for depression. The longitudinal change in antidepressant use over time was less steep after the diabetes diagnosis, and hospitalization risk decreased after the diagnosis. These associations between diabetes diagnosis and depression treatment were not modified by the participant's socio-economic position (SEP). CONCLUSIONS: These findings support the common cause hypothesis that treatment for diabetes is beneficial to the prevention of depression rather than the detection/ascertainment hypothesis that individuals with diabetes have higher rates of depression because they receive more medical attention in general.

Body mass index and depressive symptoms: instrumental-variables regression with genetic risk score.

The causal role of obesity in the development of depression remains uncertain. We applied instrumental-variables regression (Mendelian randomization) to examine the association of adolescent and adult body mass index (BMI) with adult depressive symptoms. Participants were from the Young Finns prospective cohort study (n = 1731 persons, 2844 person-observations), with repeated measurements of BMI and depressive symptoms (modified Beck's Depression Inventory). Genetic risk score of 31 single nucleotide polymorphisms previously identified as robust genetic markers of body weight was used as a proxy for variation in BMI. In standard linear regression analysis, higher adult depressive symptoms were predicted by higher adolescent BMI (B = 0.33, CI = 0.06-0.60, P = 0.017) and adult BMI (B = 0.47, CI = 0.32-0.63, P < 0.001). These associations were replicated in instrumental-variables analysis with genetic risk score as instrument (B = 1.96, CI = 0.03-3.90, P = 0.047 for adolescent BMI; B = 1.08, CI = 0.11-2.04, P = 0.030 for adult BMI). The association for adolescent BMI was significantly stronger in the instrumented analysis compared to standard regression (P = 0.04). These findings provide additional evidence to support a causal role for high BMI in increasing symptoms of depression. However, the present analysis also demonstrates potential limitations of applying Mendelian randomization when using complex phenotypes.

Internationally adopted children in Finland: parental evaluations of symptoms of reactive attachment disorder and learning difficulties - FINADO study.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the association between psychological symptoms, such as features of reactive attachment disorder (RAD), and learning difficulties among international adoptees in Finland. METHODS: The data for this study came from the FINnish ADOption (FINADO) study covering all internationally adopted children in Finland (n= 1450), with a response rate of 55.7%. The subsample consisted of 395 adopted children aged 9-15 (51.6% girls, 48.4% boys). Learning difficulties were evaluated by a screening questionnaire 'Five To Fifteen' and symptoms of RAD by FINADO RAD scale. RESULTS: The parents estimated that one-third (33.4%) of the internationally adopted children had some, and 12.7% had severe learning difficulties, i.e. three and six times more than in normal population, respectively. RAD symptoms at the time of adoption were associated with learning difficulties at school age (OR 4.57, 95% CI 2.57-8.13). CONCLUSIONS: Learning difficulties are common among internationally adopted children in Finland and symptoms of RAD are associated with a child's learning difficulties.

Police job strain during routine activities and a major event.

BACKGROUND: Special police forces are exposed to periods of intense work stress in ensuring public order. AIMS: To explore the relationship between the work context (routine work or special event) of special force policemen and psychological measures of job strain (demand-control) and effort-reward imbalance. METHODS: All policemen assigned to the G8 meeting in L'Aquila, Italy, in July 2009 were invited to complete a questionnaire while engaged in routine work in January 2009 (Time A) and in June 2009 (Time B), while preparing for the special event. RESULTS: Participation rate in the questionnaire study was 292/294 (99%) members of the special police force. Measures of job strain (-0.39, P < 0.001) and effort-reward imbalance (-0.37, P < 0.001) decreased significantly from Time A to Time B. On average, demand decreased from 14.2 ± 1.9 to 12.6 ± 2.7 (P < 0.001), control increased from 11.8 ± 2.5 to 14.4 ± 3.4 (P < 0.001) and social support increased from 17.8 ± 2.9 to 19.0 ± 3.1 (P < 0.001). At the same time, effort decreased from 17.4 ± 3.2 to 11.8 ± 3.8 (P < 0.001), reward grew from 37.6 ± 5.5 to 45.5 ± 7.4 (P < 0.001) and overcommitment dropped from 7.1 ± 2.1 to 6.6 ± 1.7 (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In special police forces, routine work may be significantly more stressful than a single critical event.

Environmental discomfort and musculoskeletal disorders.

BACKGROUND: Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are the most common occupational disease in Europe, with high prevalence among hospital workers. Both environmental and psychosocial work factors may impact significantly on the development and exacerbation of MSDs. AIMS: To evaluate whether environmental factors at work are associated with MSDs in hospital workers and to investigate potential interactions between environmental and psychosocial risk factors in the workplace that are associated with MSDs. METHODS: A cross-sectional investigation was performed using the Nordic questionnaire to assess MSDs, the IAQ/MM-040 indoor air questionnaire for environmental factors, the demand-control model for job strain and the Goldberg questionnaire for anxiety and depression. The association between environmental factors and MSDs was studied using logistic regression analysis. In addition, the interactions of environmental factors with strain, anxiety and depression for MSDs were examined. RESULTS: Environmental complaints were associated with MSDs. The strongest associations were found between temperature complaints (OR 2.73), noise and light complaints (OR 2.22), other environmental complaints (OR 3.12) and upper limb disorders. A significant interaction between temperature complaints and strain for upper limb disorders (F = 9.52, P < 0.05) was found. CONCLUSIONS: To prevent MSDs, a multi-level approach is needed, including environmental measures and interventions directed to both psychosocial and organizational factors.

[Influence of environmental discomfort on musculoskeletal disorders]. / Influenza dei fattori ambientali sui disturbi muscoloscheletrici.

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are common among hospital workers. This cross-sectional study on 1744 hospital workers showed strong interaction between temperature complaints (OR 2.73), other environmental complaints (OR 3.12) and upper limbs disorders. A significant interaction between temperature and strain for upper limbs disorders (F = 9.52, p = 0.023) was also found. Environmental and psychosocial factors can interact increasing significantly the risk of MSDs.

Hostility in adolescents and adults: a genome-wide association study of the Young Finns.

Hostility is a multidimensional personality trait with changing expression over the life course. We performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of the components of hostility in a population-based sample of Finnish men and women for whom a total of 2.5 million single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were available through direct or in silico genotyping. Hostility dimensions (anger, cynicism and paranoia) were assessed at four time points over a 15-year interval (age range 15-30 years at phase 1 and 30-45 years at phase 4) in 982-1780 participants depending on the hostility measure. Few promising areas from chromosome 14 at 99 cM (top SNPs rs3783337, rs7158754, rs3783332, rs2181102, rs7159195, rs11160570, rs941898, P values <3.9 × 10(-8) with nearest gene Enah/Vasp-like (EVL)) were found suggestively to be related to paranoia and from chromosome 7 at 86 cM (top SNPs rs802047, rs802028, rs802030, rs802026, rs802036, rs802025, rs802024, rs802032, rs802049, rs802051, P values <6.9 × 10(-7) with nearest gene CROT (carnitine O-octanoyltransferase)) to cynicism, respectively. Some shared suggestive genetic influence for both paranoia and cynicism was also found from chromosome 17 at 2.8 cM (SNPs rs12936442, rs894664, rs6502671, rs7216028) and chromosome 22 at 43 cM (SNPs rs7510759, rs7510924, rs7290560), with nearest genes RAP1 GTPase activating protein 2 (RAP1GAP2) and KIAA1644, respectively. These suggestive associations did not replicate across all measurement times, which warrants further study on these SNPs in other populations.

Justicia en el trabajo y síndrome metabólico: el estudio Whitehall II / Justice at work and metabolic syndrome: the Whitehall II study

Objetivos. Cada vez disponemos de más evidencia que demuestra que los niveles altos de justicia son beneficiosos parala salud de los trabajadores, aunque los mecanismos biológicos que explican esta asociación todavía necesitan clarificación.Nuestro objetivo es evaluar si las situaciones de justicia elevada en el trabajo protegen frente al síndrome metabólico.Métodos. Estudio de cohortes prospectivo de 20 departamentos de servicios públicos en Londres (Estudio Whitehall II),en el que se incluyen 6123 hombres y mujeres funcionarios británicos con edades entre 35 y 55 años y sin enfermedad coronariacardiaca prevalente al inicio del seguimiento (1985-1990). La percepción de justicia en el trabajo se determinó medianteun cuestionario en dos ocasiones entre 1985 y 1990. La determinación del síndrome metabólico y sus componentesentre 1999 y 2004 se basó en reconocimientos clínicas en tres ocasiones durante un periodo de más de 18 años.Resultados. Los modelos de riesgo proporcional de Cox ajustados por edad, etnia y categoría profesional demostraronque los hombres que percibían un elevado nivel de justicia en el trabajo tenían menor riesgo de síndrome metabólico incidenteen comparación con los trabajadores experimentando un bajo nivel de justicia (riesgo proporcional RP 0,75; IC95%0,63-0,89). Se obtuvo escasa evidencia de asociación entre la justicia en el trabajo y el síndrome metabólico o sus componentesen las mujeres.Conclusiones. Nuestros hallazgos prospectivos proporcionan evidencia acerca de una asociación entre niveles elevadosde justicia en el trabajo y la aparición de síndrome metabólico en los hombres(AU)

Objectives. Growing evidence shows that high levels of justice are beneficial for employee health, although biologicalmechanisms underlying this association are yet to be clarified. We aim to test whether high justice at work protects againstmetabolic syndrome.Methods. A prospective cohort study of 20 civil service departments in London (the Whitehall II study) including 6123male and female British civil servants aged 35-55 years without prevalent coronary heart disease at baseline (1985-1990).Perceived justice at work was determined by means of questionnaire on two occasions between 1985 and 1990. Follow-upfor metabolic syndrome and its components occurring from 1990 to 2004 was based on clinical assessments on three occasionsover more than 18 years.Results. Cox proportional hazard models adjusted for age, ethnicity and employment grade showed that men who experienceda high level of justice at work had a lower risk of incident metabolic syndrome than employees with a low levelof justice (HR 0.75; 95% CI 0.63 to 0.89). There was little evidence of an association between organisational justice andmetabolic syndrome or its components in women (HR 0.88; 95% CI 0.67 to 1.17).Conclusions. Our prospective findings provide evidence of an association between high levels of justice at work andthe development of metabolic syndrome in men(AU)

A prospective cohort study of deficient maternal nurturing attitudes predicting adulthood work stress independent of adulthood hostility and depressive symptoms.

Stressful childhood environments arising from deficient nurturing attitudes are hypothesized to contribute to later stress vulnerability. We examined whether deficient nurturing attitudes predict adulthood work stress. Participants were 443 women and 380 men from the prospective Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study. Work stress was assessed as job strain and effort-reward imbalance in 2001 when the participants were from 24 to 39 years old. Deficient maternal nurturance (intolerance and low emotional warmth) was assessed based on mothers' reports when the participants were at the age of 3-18 years and again at the age of 6-21 years. Linear regressions showed that deficient emotional warmth in childhood predicted lower adulthood job control and higher job strain. These associations were not explained by age, gender, socioeconomic circumstances, maternal mental problems or participant hostility, and depressive symptoms. Deficient nurturing attitudes in childhood might affect sensitivity to work stress and selection into stressful work conditions in adulthood. More attention should be paid to pre-employment factors in work stress research.

The association of cognitive performance with mental health and physical functioning strengthens with age: the Whitehall II cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Cognitive performance has been associated with mental and physical health, but it is unknown whether the strength of these associations changes with ageing and with age-related social transitions, such as retirement. We examined whether cognitive performance predicted mental and physical health from midlife to early old age. METHOD: Participants were 5414 men and 2278 women from the Whitehall II cohort study followed for 15 years between 1991 and 2006. The age range included over the follow-up was from 40 to 75 years. Mental health and physical functioning were measured six times using SF-36 subscales. Cognitive performance was assessed three times using five cognitive tests assessing verbal and numerical reasoning, verbal memory, and phonemic and semantic fluency. Socio-economic status (SES) and retirement were included as covariates. RESULTS: High cognitive performance was associated with better mental health and physical functioning. Mental health differences associated with cognitive performance widened with age from 39 to 76 years of age, whereas physical functioning differences widened only between 39 and 60 years and not after 60 years of age. SES explained part of the widening differences in mental health and physical functioning before age 60. Cognitive performance was more strongly associated with mental health in retired than non-retired participants, which contributed to the widening differences after 60 years of age. CONCLUSIONS: The strength of cognitive performance in predicting mental and physical health may increase from midlife to early old age, and these changes may be related to SES and age-related transitions, such as retirement.

Does organisational justice protect from sickness absence following a major life event? A Finnish public sector study.

BACKGROUND: It has been shown that fairness perceptions have a strong impact on health, especially under conditions of great work stress. The aim of this study was to extend previous research in studying whether working in high justice workplace would protect from health effects following environmental stressors outside work. METHODS: Using a prospective longitudinal design, the relationships between organisational justice and sickness-related absences both before and after a major life event among 25 459 public sector employees working in 2551 work units were studied. Sickness absences covered the period from 36 months before the event until 30 months after the event. RESULTS: The increase in sickness absences after the event was larger and stayed at a higher level even 30 months after the event, among those who perceived the management practices in their work unit to be relatively unfair. Similar patterns were found for each of the distributive, procedural and interactional dimensions of organisational justice. CONCLUSIONS: Fair organisational and managerial procedures may buffer the negative health effects of psychosocial health risks outside work.