Documents longitudinal analysis 62 results

"Objective The main aims of this longitudinal study were to (i) examine associations between changes in economic difficulties and health functioning among middle-aged employees and (ii) assess whether the associations remained after considering conventional domains of socioeconomic position. The associations were tested in two European welfare state occupational cohorts to strengthen the evidence base and improve generalizability. Methods Data came from two cohorts: the Finnish Helsinki Health Study (baseline 2000–2002, follow-up 2007, N=6328) and the British Whitehall II Study (baseline 1997–1999, follow-up 2003–2004, N=4350). Responses to the survey item “finding it hard to afford adequate food and clothes and pay bills” repeated at baseline and follow-up were used to examine persistent, increasing, and decreasing economic difficulties. Poor physical and mental health functioning were denoted as being in the lowest quartile of the Short Form 36 physical and mental component summary. Logistic regression analyses were adjusted for sex, age, childhood economic difficulties, household income at baseline and follow-up, employment status at follow-up, and baseline health functioning. Results We observed strong sex- and age-adjusted associations between increasing [odds ratio (OR) range 1.69–2.96] and persistent (OR range 2.54–3.21) economic difficulties and poorer physical and mental health functioning in both British and Finnish occupational cohorts. These associations remained after full adjustments. Those reporting decreasing difficulties over follow-up also had poorer functioning (OR range 1.30–1.61) compared to those who did not have difficulties at baseline, possibly reflecting residual effects of economic difficulties at baseline. Conclusion Changes in economic difficulties are associated with poorer physical and mental health functioning independent of income, employment status, and baseline health functioning.'

"ObjectivesThe aims of this study were to examine reciprocal longitudinal associations between exposure to workplace bullying and symptoms of psychological distress and to investigate how self-labeled victimization from bullying explains the effects of bullying on health.Methods Logistic regression analysis was employed to examine the longitudinal relationships between workplace bullying and psychological distress in a representative cohort sample of 1775 Norwegian employees. The time-lag between baseline and follow-up was two years. Exposure to bullying behavior was measured with the revised version of the Negative Acts Questionnaire. Perceived victimization from bullying was measured by a single self-labeling question. Psychological distress was measured with the 25-item Hopkins Symptom Checklist. All variables were measured at both baseline and follow-up.Results After adjustment for psychological distress at baseline, exposure to bullying behavior [odds ratio (OR) 1.68, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.07–2.62) was found to predict subsequent psychological distress. This effect of bullying behaviors disappeared when victimization from bullying (OR 2.47, 95% CI 1.17–5.22) was entered into the regression. Both psychological distress (OR 2.49, 95% CI 1.64–3.80) and victimization (OR 2.61, 95% CI 1.42–4.81) at baseline were associated with increased risks of being a target of bullying behaviors at follow-up. Psychological distress (OR 2.51, 95% CI 1.39–4.52) and bullying behaviors (OR 2.95, 95% CI 1.39–4.52) at follow-up were associated with victimization. Conclusion The mutual relationship between bullying and psychological distress indicates a vicious circle where bullying and distress reinforce their own negative effects. This highlights the importance of early interventions to stop workplace bullying and provide treatment options to employees with psychological distress."

"This article gives some background to how the Labour Force Survey longitudinal data sets are constructed and looks at the benefits of this data source in analysing changes over time. The strength of the data is in looking at the flows of people between the three main economic activity states and this provides the main focus for the article. Changes in the proportions remaining in the same categories over the two time periods, along with changes in the size of the flows between the three main categories are investigated, and some broad conclusions drawn about their causes. Some background is also given to the methodological issues which users should be aware of when using the longitudinal data sets."

"Objectives The number of longitudinal studies reporting evidence for reversed effects of strain on work is growing, but evidence regarding the mechanisms underlying such effects is scarce. In this study, earlier longitudinal findings were reviewed, and the following four mechanisms for reversed effects were proposed that reflect within-person or environmental changes: (i) the rosy perception mechanism, (ii) the gloomy perception mechanism, (iii) the upward selection mechanism, and (iv) the drift mechanism.Methods These mechanisms were tested using structural equation modeling and longitudinal data from a Dutch four-phase study (N=1588 participants).Results The results revealed that work characteristics and mental health influenced each other reciprocally and longitudinally. The reversed effects were examined in more detail, and it was found that these could be accounted for by both within-person and environmental change mechanisms. The rosy perception mechanism was found to explain the positive effects from health on job demands; the upward selection mechanism explained the positive (environmental) effects from health on job control; the gloomy perception mechanism explained the reversed (evaluation) effects from health on supervisory social support. No support was found for the drift mechanism.Conclusions Mechanisms that may explain reversed causation are yet poorly understood. The main contribution of the present study lies in the fact that it proposes (i) a conceptual framework with which to analyze the effects of health on work characteristics and (ii) methods for testing these mechanisms. The study revealed that there is good reason to pursue research on reversed causality."

"Objectives This study examined the association between perceived health and early retirement.Methods A cohort of 1748 men aged 42 to 60 years from eastern Finland was followed from 1984 to 2000. At baseline, the participants had answered a questionnaire regarding their general (as measured by physician diagnoses) and perceived health status. Comprehensive pension records were obtained from the Social Insurance Institution of Finland and the Central Pension Security Institute. The risk of disability pensioning in various disease categories and nonillness-based early pensioning was analyzed using Cox regression modeling.Results Over 11 years, 855 (48.9%) men received a disability pension, and 331 (18.9%) received a nonillness-based early pension. Only 273 (15.6%) received an old age pension, without previous early pensioning. At the end of the follow-up, 289 (16.5%) were still working. After adjustment for potential confounders, men with poor perceived health at baseline had a relative risk of 2.37 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.79-3.13] for disability pensioning and the highest risk of disability was due to mental illness (RR 3.84, 95% CI 1.86-7.92), followed by musculoskeletal disorders and cardiovascular diseases. The relative risk of receiving a nonillness-based pension was 2.94 (95% CI 1.92-4.50) for this group.Conclusions Self-assessed poor health is a strong predictor of early retirement due to mental disorders, musculoskeletal disorders, and cardiovascular diseases. Moreover, the risk of retirement on a nonillness-based pension is increased among those with poor perceived health."

"Objective: Our objective was to examine the impact of shift work on mental health at the population level. We expected that this impact would depend on duration of exposure, type of shift work, and gender.Methods: We analyzed longitudinal data (1995–2005) from the British Household Panel Survey. From the 2005 wave, we selected a subsample of people aged 21–73 years who had been followed annually from 1995 to 2005. We used responses in 2005 to the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ, 12-item) and self-reported anxiety/depression as dependent variables. Controlling for age, marital status, education, number of years working in six occupational categories (1995–2005), and baseline mental health, we performed nested logistic regression models to examine the effect of the duration of night work and varied shift patterns on mental health for men and women.Results: Undertaking night work for =4 years in men was associated with an increased risk of having a GHQ score reflecting mental ill health and reporting anxiety/depression [odds ratios (OR) 2.58, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.22–5.48; OR 6.08, 95% CI 2.06–17.92, respectively]. Women were significantly more likely to report anxiety/depression (OR 2.58, 95% CI 1.53–4.35 ) and to have a GHQ score reflecting mental ill health (OR 4.17, 95% CI 1.45–11.98), after working varied shift patterns for 2–3 years, and =4 years, respectively.Conclusions: Different types of shift work had a differential impact on mental health, but this impact varied according to gender. Women's mental health was more adversely affected by varied shift patterns, while night work had a greater negative impact on men's mental health."

"Objectives This study investigated the relationships between work demands, chronic medical and musculoskeletal conditions, aging, and the ability to remain on the job in a longitudinal study of 979 construction roofers between the ages of 40 and 59 years.Methods In a phone interview at baseline and 1 year later, the participants were asked about the presence of medical conditions and musculoskeletal disorders, work limitations and work accommodations, and social and economic functioning.Results Among the workers for whom a musculoskeletal disorder was their most serious condition at baseline, 8% left roofing due to a health condition during the first year of follow-up. A comparison between those who left and those who stayed identified older age and lower physical functioning as statistically significant predictors of leaving the trade. Workers with a musculoskeletal disorder and who, in the baseline interview, reported receiving some type of job accommodation for their musculoskeletal disorder had an odds ratio of 0.24 (P=0.07) for leaving work by the time of the 1-year follow-up when compared with workers with a musculoskeletal disorder and no job accommodation. The workers with three or more work limitations were also more likely to leave roofing, but this association disappeared after adjustment for other factors.Conclusions Musculoskeletal conditions among roofers are strongly associated with work limitation, missed work, and reduced physical functioning, factors that are predictive of premature departure from the workforce. Job accommodation was provided for 31% of the roofers with a musculoskeletal disorder, and it was associated with a reduced likelihood of subsequently leaving roofing for health-related reasons."

"Objectives The main goal of this study was to identify work-related risk factors for the onset of interpersonal conflicts at work.Methods Longitudinal data from the Maastricht Cohort Study on “fatigue at work” (N=9241) were used. After the respondents who reported an interpersonal conflict at baseline were excluded, logistic regression analyses were used to determine the role of several work-related risk factors at baseline in the onset of a conflict with coworkers or supervisors after 1 year of follow-up.Results Higher psychological job demands, higher levels of role ambiguity, the presence of physical demands, higher musculoskeletal demands, a poorer physical work environment, shift work, overtime, and higher levels of job insecurity significantly predicted the onset of both a coworker conflict and a supervisor conflict. Higher levels of coworker and supervisor social support, more autonomy concerning the terms of employment, good overall job satisfaction, monetary gratification, and esteem reward significantly protected against the onset of both a coworker conflict and a supervisor conflict. Higher levels of decision latitude and more career opportunities also significantly protected against the onset of a supervisor conflict.Conclusions Several factors in the work environment were related to the onset of interpersonal conflicts at work. Given the rather serious consequences of interpersonal conflicts at work with respect to health and well-being, the observed risk factors can serve as a starting point for effective prevention and intervention strategies in the workplace."