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Proposed Project

Work Organization Predictors of Depression in Women—Reinstatement—The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

Depression is a costly and debilitating occupational health problem. Research has indicated that the costs to an organization of treatment for depression can rival those for heart disease, and both major depressive disorder and forms of minor depression have been found to be associated with more disability days than other types of health diagnoses. This may be of particular relevance for working women. Various national and international studies indicate that women in developed countries experience depression at up to twice the rate of men. Studies that have examined this gender difference have focused on social, personality, and genetic explanations while few have explored factors in the workplace that may contribute to the gender differential. Examples of workplace factors that may contribute to depression among women include: additive workplace and home responsibilities, lack of control and authority, and low paying and low status jobs. Additionally, women are much more likely to face various types of discrimination in the workplace than men, ranging from harassment to inequalities in hiring and promotional opportunities, and these types of stressors have been strongly linked with psychological distress and other negative health outcomes. On the positive side, organizations that are judged by their employees to value diversity and employee development engender lower levels of employee stress, and those that enforce policies against discrimination have more committed employees. Such organizational practices and policies may be beneficial for employee mental health, particularly the mental health of women.

This research focuses on the following questions: (1) Which work organization factors are most predictive of depression in women, and (2) are there measurable work organization factors that confer protection against depression in women employees?

The research uses a repeated measures, prospective design with data collection at three points (baseline and eighteen months follow-ups). A 45-minute survey is being administered by telephone to 314 women and men at 16 different organizations. The survey contains questions about traditional job stressors (e.g., changes in workload, social support, work roles), stressors not traditionally examined, but which may be linked with depressive symptoms among women (e.g., roles and responsibilities outside of the workplace, discrimination, career issues) depression symptoms, and company policies, programs and practices. Analyses will determine which work organization factors are linked with depressive symptoms and what effect the organizational practices/policies of interest have on depression. Findings from this prospective study will also help target future intervention efforts to reduce occupationally-related depression in women workers. There will be no cost to respondents. The estimated annualized burden for this data collection is 236 hours.