Canadian Study on Work and Stress

Most companies’ experience with mental health issues at work is, well, depressing. There are many reasons – complexity, ignorance, stigma, poor diagnosis and treatment are chief among them. However, depression impairs productivity by affecting absence, disability rates and costs, and creating presenteeism for those who remain at work. Depression is the leading cause of long-term disability. New research uses data collected on 24,324 employed individuals in the 2002 Canadian Community Health Survey who were interviewed and screened for symptoms of major depression.

Using a well-documented model of "job strain", this research confirmed that work that has high demands and low decision "latitude" (defined as control over work, degree of skill, and work variety) is the most damaging to health.

The survey reported that 3.4% of working men and 6.0% of working women met the criteria for major depression. These rates were somewhat lower than reported in other published studies, but could be explained by a more stringent definition of disability, higher rates of marriage among respondents, and higher than average levels of education and income. In general, these last three factors help protect health. High levels of job strain and low levels of job security were significantly associated with increased risk of major depression for men. For women, those with the lowest levels of decision authority were significantly more likely to be clinically depressed. For both genders, low social support at work was associated with elevated risk for major depression.

The authors conclude that their findings related to depression also apply to absence and disability – high demands, low support, and low decision authority have many negative consequences on physical and mental health, both for individuals and for organizations.

Source: Robertson Blackmore, E, et al., 2007. Major Depressive Episodes and Work Stress: Results from a National Population Survey. American Journal of Public Health (November), 97:11: 2088-2093.