Work and mental health: what do we know and how can we intervene?

As working conditions are increasingly characterized by socio-emotional demands, interpersonal interactions and relationships, and mental requirements, at least in high-income, post-industrialized societies, work and mental health has evolved as a key topic of occupational health research (1, 2). In this editorial, we focus on three main themes within this topic: (i) identifying factors at work that contribute to the onset of mental health problems and clinical mental disorders; (ii) using work as a “therapeutic tool” for individuals with mental health problems; and (iii) conducting an d evaluating intervention studies. Regarding the first theme, one of the earliest systematic reviews on work-related risk factors of common mental disorders was published in 2006 by Stansfeld& Candy in this journal (3), an article that today is a “citation classic” (876 citations in Web of Science as of 6 October 2019). The authors identified job strain and effort–reward imbalance as risk factors, while acknowledging that only few studies of high quality were available (3). Today, more high quality studies are available and recent meta -analyses reported that job strain (4) and effort–reward imbalance (5) predict incident depressive disorders, corroborating the conclusion of the pioneering 2006 review. Other reviews suggest that also low job control (6), workplace bullying (6), and job insecurity (7) may be involved in the etiol ogy of depressive disorders. Long working hours are...
Source: Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health - Category: Occupational Health Tags: Editorial Source Type: research