Psychosocial work conditions and mental health

Previous studies have looked at the link between psychosocial work factors (e.g. job control, social support, job security and psychological demands) and poor mental health among workers, as indicated by the presence of depression, anxiety and other mental health disorders. However, little is known about the work factors that support positive mental health among workers. Positive mental health includes emotional well-being (e.g. positive moods, life satisfaction), psychological well-being (e.g. personal growth, purpose in life) and social well-being (e.g. social contribution, social belonging).

This study set out to examine the relationship between psychosocial work conditions and both poor and positive mental health among workers. Drawing on previous research that suggests poor mental health and positive mental well-being are distinct concepts, the study also aimed to explore whether psychosocial work factors have a stronger effect on one or the other.

This study used data from the 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey—Mental Health (CCHS), a survey conducted by Statistics Canada of working-aged Canadians living in the ten provinces. This study looked at the responses of more than 10,000 people aged 15-74 years who worked at least eight hours a week.

The CCHS collected information on psychosocial work conditions, including job control, psychological demands, social support and job insecurity. It also asked respondents about any mental health disorders (e.g. major depressive episode, generalized anxiety disorder and bipolar disorder) and about their mental well-being (e.g. emotional well-being, and psychological and social functioning) in the past 12 months.

The researchers compared the psychosocial work conditions related to poor mental health and positive mental well-being in Canadian workers, taking personal factors into account.

The researchers found that psychosocial work conditions were associated with poor mental health and positive mental well-being. All else being equal, a higher level of job control, social support and job security increased the odds of a worker being free of mental health disorders by eight to 15 per cent. They also increased the odds of a worker reporting positive mental well-being by 10 to 14 per cent. Psychological work demands were not significantly linked to either poor or positive mental health. These findings were similar for both men and women, once personal factors were taken into account. Taken together, higher levels of job control, social support and job security were more strongly linked with positive mental well-being than they were with being free of mental health disorders.  

Better psychosocial work conditions are associated with workers having not only a lower likelihood of mental disorders such as depression and anxiety, but also with a greater likelihood of flourishing mental health. Given that workplace interventions should aim to both prevent mental disorders and improve mental well-being, focusing on the psychosocial work environment may provide an opportunity to do both at the same time.

This study benefits from the use of a large, population-based survey, one that included questions about both positive and negative mental health outcomes. The use of this dataset allowed for a better understanding of the related, but separate, mental health outcomes and their associations with different psychosocial work conditions.

This study may be limited by the lack of information regarding personal or family history of mental health disorders and may not have included other important personal or workplace factors. In addition, information on the psychosocial work environment and positive and negative mental health were collected at the same time, which makes attributing causation difficult. These factors may help explain some of the relationships between psychosocial work factors and mental health outcomes found in this study.