Effort/reward imbalance and sedentary lifestyle: an observational study in a large occupational cohort

Objectives: To investigate the association between effort/reward imbalance (ERI) at work and sedentary lifestyle.

Effort-reward imbalance at work and the co-occurrence of lifestyle risk factors: cross-sectional survey in a sample of 36,127 public sector employees

Background: In occupational life, a mismatch between high expenditure of effort and receiving few rewards may promote the co-occurrence of lifestyle risk factors, however, there is insufficient evidence to support or refute this hypothesis. The aim of this study is to examine the extent to which the dimensions of the Effort-Reward Imbalance (ERI) model - effort, rewards and ERI - are associated with the co-occurrence of lifestyle risk factors.

Job strain, effort-reward imbalance, and heavy drinking: A study in 40,851 employees

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the relationship of the job strain model and the effort-reward imbalance model with heavy drinking.

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.

Effort, reward and self-reported mental health: a simulation study on negative affectivity bias.

Background : In the present article, we propose an alternative method for dealing with negative affectivity (NA) biases in research, while investigating the association between a deleterious psychosocial environment at work and poor mental health. First, we investigated how strong NA must be to cause an observed correlation between the independent and dependent variables. Second, we subjectively assessed whether NA can have a large enough impact on a large enough number of subjects to invalidate the observed correlations between dependent and independent variables.Methods : We simulated 10,000 populations of 300 subjects each, using the marginal distribution of workers in an actual population that had answered the Siegrist's questionnaire on effort and reward imbalance (ERI) and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ).Results : The results of the present study suggested that simulated NA has a minimal effect on the mean scores for effort and reward. However, the correlations between the effort and reward imbalance (ERI) ratio and the GHQ score might be important, even in simulated populations with a limited NA.Conclusions : When investigating the relationship between the ERI ratio and the GHQ score, we suggest the following rules for the interpretation of the results: correlations with an explained variance of 5% and below should be considered with caution; correlations with an explained variance between 5% and 10% may result from NA, although this effect does not seem likely; and correlations with an explained variance of 10% and above are not likely to be the result of NA biases. [Authors]

Overcommitment but not effort-reward imbalance relates to stress-induced coagulation changes in teachers

BACKGROUND: Stress-related hypercoagulability might link job stress with atherosclerosis. PURPOSE: This paper aims to study whether overcommitment, effort-reward imbalance, and the overcommitment by effort-reward imbalance interaction relate to an exaggerated procoagulant stress response. METHODS: We assessed job stress in 52 healthy teachers (49 +/- 8 years, 63% women) at study entry and, after a mean follow-up of 21 +/- 4 months, when they underwent an acute psychosocial stressor and had coagulation measures determined in plasma. In order to increase the reliability of job stress measures, entry and follow-up scores of overcommitment and of effort-reward imbalance were added up to total scores. RESULTS: During recovery from stress, elevated overcommitment correlated with D-dimer increase and with smaller fibrinogen decrease. In contrast, overcommitment was not associated with coagulation changes from pre-stress to immediately post-stress. Effort-reward imbalance and the interaction between overcommitment and effort-reward imbalance did not correlate with stress-induced changes in coagulation measures. CONCLUSIONS: Overcommitment predicted acute stress-induced hypercoagulability, particularly during the recovery period.

Information and communication technology demands at work : the association with job strain, effort-reward imbalance and self-rated health in different socio-economic strata

PURPOSE: The use of information and communication technology (ICT) is common in modern working life. ICT demands may give rise to experience of work-related stress. Knowledge about ICT demands in relation to other types of work-related stress and to self-rated health is limited. Consequently, the aim of this study was to examine the association between ICT demands and two types of work-related stress [job strain and effort-reward imbalance (ERI)] and to evaluate the association between these work-related stress measures and self-rated health, in general and in different SES strata. METHODS: This study is based on cross-sectional data from the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health collected in 2014, from 14,873 gainfully employed people. ICT demands, job strain, ERI and self-rated health were analysed as the main measures. Sex, age, SES, lifestyle factors and BMI were used as covariates. RESULTS: ICT demands correlated significantly with the dimensions of the job strain and ERI models, especially with the demands (r = 0.42; p < 0.01) and effort (r = 0.51; p < 0.01) dimensions. ICT demands were associated with suboptimal self-rated health, also after adjustment for age, sex, SES, lifestyle and BMI (OR 1.49 [95 % CI 1.36-1.63]), but job strain (OR 1.93 [95 % CI 1.74-2.14) and ERI (OR 2.15 [95 % CI 1.95-2.35]) showed somewhat stronger associations with suboptimal self-rated health. CONCLUSION: ICT demands are common among people with intermediate and high SES and associated with job strain, ERI and suboptimal self-rated health. ICT demands should thus be acknowledged as a potential stressor of work-related stress in modern working life.

Effort-reward imbalance and sedentary lifestyle: an observational study in a large occupational cohort

Objectives: To investigate the association between effort-reward imbalance (ERI) at work and sedentary lifestyle. Methods: Cross-sectional data from the ongoing Finnish Public Sector Study related to 30 433 women and 7718 men aged 17-64 were used (n = 35 918 after exclusion of participants with missing values in covariates). From the responses to a questionnaire, an aggregated mean score for ERI in a work unit was assigned to each participant. The outcome was sedentary lifestyle defined as <2.00 metabolic equivalent task (MET) hours/day. Logistic regression with generalized estimating equations was used as an analysis method to include both individual and work unit level predictors in the models. Adjustments were made for age, marital status, occupational status, job contract, smoking, and heavy drinking. Results: Twenty five percent of women and 27% of men had a sedentary lifestyle. High individual level ERI was associated with a higher likelihood of sedentary lifestyle both among women (odds ratio (OR) = 1.08, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.16) and men (OR = 1.17, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.33). These associations were not explained by relevant confounders and they were also independent of work unit level job strain measured as a ratio of job demands and control. Conclusions: A mismatch between high occupational effort spent and low reward received in turn seems to be associated with an elevated risk of sedentary lifestyle, although this association is relatively weak.

Effort-reward imbalance at work and the co-occurrence of lifestyle risk factors: cross-sectional survey in a sample of 36,127 public sector employees

Background In occupational life, a mismatch between high expenditure of effort and receiving few rewards may promote the co-occurrence of lifestyle risk factors, however, there is insufficient evidence to support or refute this hypothesis. The aim of this study is to examine the extent to which the dimensions of the Effort-Reward Imbalance (ERI) model – effort, rewards and ERI – are associated with the co-occurrence of lifestyle risk factors. Methods Based on data from the Finnish Public Sector Study, cross-sectional analyses were performed for 28,894 women and 7233 men. ERI was conceptualized as a ratio of effort and rewards. To control for individual differences in response styles, such as a personal disposition to answer negatively to questionnaires, occupational and organizational -level ecological ERI scores were constructed in addition to individual-level ERI scores. Risk factors included current smoking, heavy drinking, body mass index ≥25 kg/m2, and physical inactivity. Multinomial logistic regression models were used to estimate the likelihood of having one risk factor, two risk factors, and three or four risk factors. The associations between ERI and single risk factors were explored using binary logistic regression models. Results After adjustment for age, socioeconomic position, marital status, and type of job contract, women and men with high ecological ERI were 40% more likely to have simultaneously ≥3 lifestyle risk factors (vs. 0 risk factors) compared with their counterparts with low ERI. When examined separately, both low ecological effort and low ecological rewards were also associated with an elevated prevalence of risk factor co-occurrence. The results obtained with the individual-level scores were in the same direction. The associations of ecological ERI with single risk factors were generally less marked than the associations with the co-occurrence of risk factors. Conclusion This study suggests that a high ratio of occupational efforts relative to rewards may be associated with an elevated risk of having multiple lifestyle risk factors. However, an unexpected association between low effort and a higher likelihood of risk factor co-occurrence as well as the absence of data on overcommitment (and thereby a lack of full test of the ERI model) warrant caution in regard to the extent to which the entire ERI model is supported by our evidence.

Síndrome desequilibrio esfuerzo-recompensa y enfermedades cardiovasculares : revisión de la literatura 2006-2016

Introducción El modelo desequilibrio esfuerzo – recompensa es un importante predictor de estrés laboral y por consiguiente de alteraciones en la salud cardiovascular, por ello en los últimos 10 años se ha encontrado importante evidencia y estudios respecto al tema; las publicaciones científicas se han enfocado en establecer relación entre factores psicosociales en el trabajo y consecuencias sobre la salud dándole relevancia a los factores biológicos principalmente los cardiovasculares. Objetivo Se evaluó la evidencia entre el desequilibrio esfuerzo recompensa y las alteraciones cardiovasculares en los trabajadores. Metodología Se realizó una revisión de la literatura en principales bases de datos como son pubmed, ovid y revistas electrónicas, en idioma inglés – español durante los últimos 10 años, usando palabras de búsqueda como desequilibrio esfuerzo recompensa, alteraciones cardiovasculares, trabajadores. Resultados Se encontró fuerte evidencia entre el desequilibrio esfuerzo recompensa con enfermedades cardiovasculares en los trabajadores, principalmente con las alteraciones en la tensión arterial en los trabajadores más expuestos, al igual que una relación mayor en mujeres que hombres que aumentaba con la edad. Se evidenció que después de haber sufrido un evento coronario agudo los trabajadores que continuaban expuestos a altas cargas de tensión laboral eran más propensos a desarrollar enfermedad coronaria recurrente. El sobrecompromiso (PR 1,91, IC 95% 1,35-2,69) y el desequilibrio esfuerzo recompensa (PR 2,47, IC 95% 1,62-3,75) se asociaron con riesgo de hipertensión arterial después de ajustar las variables de confusión. Se encontró asociación entre el desequilibrio esfuerzo recompensa e hipertensión arterial (OR 1,53-3,71 IC 95%). La ERI alta y la baja recompensa se asociaron con enfermedad coronaria recurrente (RR = 1,75, intervalo de confianza del 95% [IC] = 0,99 - 3,08 y HR = 1,77, IC del 95% = 1,16 - 2,71). Hubo una interacción de género que mostró efectos más fuertes entre las mujeres (HR respectivamente ajustadas para ERI alta y baja recompensa: HR = 3,95, IC del 95% = 0,93- 16,79, y HR = 9,53, IC del 95% = 1,15- 78,68). Conclusiones Se encontró una relación entre el desequilibrio esfuerzo recompensa con enfermedades cardiovasculares, principalmente con las alteraciones en la tensión arterial y eventos coronarios

Work Stress and Early Atherosclerosis: Do Genetic Background and Pre-Employment Risk Factors Explain Conflicting Findings?

According to the models conceptualizing work stress, increased risk of health problems arise when high job demands co-occur with low job control (the demand-control model) or the efforts invested by the employee are disproportionately high compared to the rewards received (effort-reward imbalance model). This study examined the association between work stress and early atherosclerosis with particular attention to the role of pre-employment risk factors and genetic background in this association. The subjects were young healthy adults aged 24-39 who were participating in the 21-year follow-up of the ongoing prospective "Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns" study in 2001-2002. Work stress was evaluated with questionnaires on demand-control model and on effort-reward model. Atherosclerosis was assessed with ultrasound of carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT). In addition, risk for enhanced atherosclerotic process was assessed by measuring with heart rate variability and heart rate. Pre-employment risk factors, measured at age 12 to 18, included such as body mass index, blood lipids, family history of coronary heart disease, and parental socioeconomic position. Variants of the neuregulin-1 were determined using genomic DNA. The results showed that higher work stress was associated with higher IMT in men. This association was not attenuated by traditional risk factors of atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease or by pre-employment risk factors measured in adolescence. Neuregulin-1 gene moderated the association between work stress and IMT in men. A significant association between work stress and IMT was found only for the T/T genotype of the neuregulin-1 gene but not for other genotypes. Among women an association was found between higher work stress and lower heart rate variability, suggesting higher risk for developing atherosclerosis. These associations could not be explained by demographic characteristics or coronary risk factors. The present findings provide evidence for an association between work stress and atherosclerosis in relatively young population. This association seems to be modified by genetic influences but it does not appear to be confounded by pre-employment adolescent risk factors.

Childhood and adolescent antecedents of work stress and early atherosclerosis

Work stress is after musculoskeletal disorders the second most common work-related health problem in the European Union, affecting 28% of EU employees. Furthermore, a 50% excessive cardiovascular disease risk among employees with work stress is reported. High job demands combined with low job control according to the Job Demands-Job Control model, or high effort combined with low rewards according to Effort-Reward Imbalance model, are likely to produce work stress in the majority of employees. Atherosclerotic wall thickening is a validated marker of an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. This study examined the role of childhood and adolescent factors as antecedents of work stress and early atherosclerosis, and in the relationship between them. The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study, (the CRYF project) started in 1980 when the participants were at the age of three to 18 years. Follow-ups have been conducted every three years until 1992, after that in 1997 and 2001, and the latest is ongoing in 2008. The participants parents reported their socioeconomic position in 1980 and 1983, and their life satisfaction in 1983. Biological risk factors were measured in 1980 and 2001. Type A behaviour was reported in 1986, 1989 and 2001. In the 2001 follow-up when the participants were aged 24 to 39, work stress was assessed from responses to questionnaires on job demands-job control and effort-reward imbalance, and education. Ultrasound measurement of the carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) was used to assess atherosclerosis. There were 755, 746, 1014 and 494 participants in studies I-IV, respectively. The results showed that low parental socioeconomic position and parental life dissatisfaction during childhood and adolescence predicted higher levels of job strain 18 years later, and that education mediated the relationship between parental socioeconomic position and job strain. Childhood and adolescent family factors were not related to the effort-reward imbalance. Parental life satisfaction was associated with high rewards at work among the men, and high parental socioeconomic position was associated with high reward among the women. Among the men, the eagerness-energy component of Type A behaviour across different developmental periods predicted increased CIMT. Among the women, hard-driving component of Type A behaviour predicted decreased CIMT. Low leadership characteristic in adolescence and early adulthood was associated with both high job strain and increased CIMT, and attenuated the relationship between job strain and CIMT to non-significance in men. The current findings add to the literature on the relationship between job strain and health literature in adopting a developmental perspective. The results imply that work stress does not completely originate from work. There are childhood and adolescent environmental and dispositional effects on work stress and CIMT several years later, and these partly seem to operate through educational attainment.

Prevalência de transtornos mentais comuns : estresse no ambiente de trabalho e atividade física em militares

Esta tese inclui dois artigos que tiveram por objetivo investigar a relação de estresse no ambiente de trabalho com a prevalência de transtornos mentais comuns (TMC) e a relação de ambos com os níveis de prática de atividade física em militares do Exército Brasileiro. No primeiro artigo, a variável dependente foi TMC e a primeira variável independente foi o estresse no ambiente de trabalho, avaliado sob o modelo esforço-recompensa em desequilíbrio (effort-reward imbalance: ERI). TMC foram avaliados por meio do General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). Foram estimadas razões de prevalência (RP) por regressão de Poisson para imprimir robustez aos intervalos de confiança (95%). A prevalência de TMC foi de 33,2% (IC95%:29,1;37,3). O estudo mostrou, após ajuste por idade, educação, renda, estilo de vida, autopercepção de saúde, agravos à saúde autorreferidos e características ocupacionais, que estresse no ambiente de trabalho estava forte e independentemente associado a TMC, exibindo razões de prevalências (RP) que variaram entre os níveis de estresse, oscilando de 1,60 a 2,01. O posto de tenente estava associado a TMC, mesmo após ajuste pelas covariáveis (RP = 2,06; IC95% 1,2 4,1). Os resultados indicaram que excesso de comprometimento é um componente importante do estresse no trabalho. Estes achados foram consistentes com a literatura e contribuem com o conhecimento sobre o estado de saúde mental dos militares das Forças Armadas no Brasil, destacando que o estresse no ambiente de trabalho e que o desempenho das funções ocupacionais, do posto de Tenente, podem significar risco maior para TMC nesse tipo de população. O segundo artigo teve por objetivo investigar a associação de estresse no ambiente de trabalho e TMC com a prática de atividade física habitual entre militares das Forças Armadas. A atividade física (variável dependente) foi estimada por meio do Questionário de Baecke, um dos instrumentos mais utilizados em estudos epidemiológicos sobre atividade física. Estresse no ambiente de trabalho, TMC e posto foram as variáveis independentes, avaliadas conforme descrição mencionada acima. Buscou-se avaliar a associação destas variáveis e com a prática de atividade física no pessoal militar. Para tanto, utilizou-se o método de regressão linear múltipla, via modelos lineares generalizados. Após controlar por características socioeconomicas e demográficas, estresse no ambiente de trabalho, caracterizado por "altos esforços e baixa recompensas", permaneceu associado a mais atividade física ocupacional (b = 0,224 IC95% 0,098; 0,351) e a menos atividade física no lazer (b = -0,198; IC95% -0,384; -0,011). TMC permaneceram associados a menores níveis de atividade física nos esportes/exercícios no lazer (b = -0,184; IC95% -0,321; -0,046). Posto permaneceu associado a maiores níveis de atividade física ocupacional (b = 0,324 IC95% 0,167; 0,481). Até onde se sabe, este foi o primeiro estudo a avaliar a relação de aspectos psicossociais e ocupacionais envolvidos na prática de atividade física em militares no Brasil e no exterior. Os resultados sugerem que o ambiente de trabalho e a saúde mental estão associados à prática de atividade física de militares, que se relaciona com a condição de aptidão física.