The relationship between work and improved health, safety and well-being Andy Smith, Emma Wadsworth, Katherine Chaplin, Paul Allen & George Mark

What is a good job?

Main issues What are the positive features of jobs/work that enhance well-being and promote occupational health and safety?

THE NEGATIVE VIEW There is a huge amount of research on negative job characteristics, occupational stress and mental health problems. But positive and negative emotions are not just the opposite ends of a continuum, and the absence of negative emotion doesn’t mean the presence of positive emotion.

WORK IS GOOD FOR YOU OR WORKLESSNESS IS BAD FOR YOU

Stages of the research A literature review Secondary analyses of existing data Consideration of individual differences New data collection

Summary of the literature review Compared to the negative effects, there’s very little on the positive. What we have found has many problems e.g. Lack of theory Lack of data to support views Weak methodology

Warr’s coverage of happiness at work This is probably the most coherent coverage of the area but it’s not clear how much of this is just a reversal of his occupational stress approach

Warr’s main points: Consider multiple aspects of happiness Examine a range of environmental sources Look for non-linear patterns and combinations of factors Explore mental processes (appraisals) as well as job characteristics Recognise the importance of personal baselines Acknowledge that unhappiness is essential to happiness

Problems with studies reviewed Poor methodology Lack of control for basic confounders No control for other job characteristics Restricted range of outcomes Usually cross-sectional Little consideration of impact of prior employment

Secondary analyses Issue 1: Comparison of the presence or absence of job characteristics/appraisals (e.g. Is the presence of social support good or the absence of social support bad, or both?).

Other issues addressed by the analyses Control for other job characteristics Consider combined effects Longitudinal analyses as well

Results from the analyses – negative outcomes About half the analyses showed an effect of both the presence and absence of a job characteristic/appraisals (see Figure 1 – high stress increases depression, low stress reduces it [compared to mid-range values]

Example of a dose response association: stress and depression

Other profiles occur see Figure in paper Take home message: Examine both positive/negative job characteristics, appraisals and outcomes.

The Well-being Process Starting point – transactional models of stress Potentially stressful stimuli Perceptions of stress Coping, psychological resources and attributions Physical and mental health outcomes

Mental health problems in University Staff Mark and Smith (2010) – coping and attributional style, as well as job characteristics, are important in explaining mental health problems of University staff. 31.6% University staff reported levels of clinical anxiety compared to 18.3% of a general population sample. Mental health problems associated with high job demands, lack of social support and effort-reward imbalance.

Importance of individual factors Mental health problems and lack of job satisfaction were reduced by positive coping behaviours (e.g. problem-focused coping) and positive attributions (seeing events as internal, stable and general rather than external, unstable and specific). Take home message: include these individual differences in studies of well-being

New data collection Surveys of over 1,000 public sector workers and a smaller longitudinal survey of a sample starting work. Measures of negative/positive job characteristics giving the following 6 factors: Demands; Control; Manager Support; Peer support; Role (ambiguity); and Skills (skill discretion and uplifts from skills)

Appraisals (perceptions) Satisfaction with management Satisfaction with co-workers Intrinsic job satisfaction Rewards Stress

Outcomes Positive mental health (e.g. happiness, quality of life, positive mood) Negative mental health (e.g. negative mood, anxiety, depression, cognitive problems) Physical health (e.g. health and ill-health; fatigue; accidents)

What predicts the outcomes? The combined well-being score (the sum of the presence positive job characteristics and appraisals and the absence of negative characteristics and appraisals). “The good job score”

Associations between the good job score and physical health Odds ratio Low good job1.00 Second quartile2.79 ( ) Third quartile3.80 ( ) High good job6.87 ( )

Associations between the good job score and positive mental health Odds ratio Low good job1.00 Second quartile2.89 ( ) Third quartile5.24 ( ) High good job22.83 ( )

Where next? A shorter measuring instrument Further surveys (collaborating organisations required) Collaborations through KESS studentships and KTPs Refine the method of auditing wellbeing at work and using such audits as an indicator of the efficacy of interventions. For further details me at: