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Document ID (ISN)111710
CIS number 11-0347
ISSN - Serial title 0267-8373 - Work and Stress
Year 2011
Convention or series no.
Author(s) Nixon A.E., Mazzola J.J., Bauer J., Krueger J.R., Spector P.E.
Title Can work make you sick? A meta-analysis of the relationships between job stressors and physical symptoms
Bibliographic information 2011, Vol.25, No.1, p.1-22. 75 ref.
Abstract A meta-analysis of 79 studies reporting cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships between physical symptoms and various occupational stressors was conducted. Stressors were organizational constraints, interpersonal conflict, role conflict, role ambiguity, workload, work hours, and lack of control. The relationships between stressors and eight physical symptoms were quantitatively summarized and contrasted, for both individual symptoms and composite symptom scales. All of the occupational stressors were significantly related to physical symptoms in cross-sectional analyses, and the effect sizes of these relationships varied both by the stressor and the individual symptom examined. The longitudinal relationships were similar to the cross-sectional results, and provided some evidence of temporal consistency of the occupational stressor/physical symptom relationship. Organizational constraints and interpersonal conflict had the strongest relationships with symptoms in both the cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. Gastrointestinal problems and sleep disturbances were significantly related to more stressors than other symptoms examined. These findings show that it is important to examine physical symptoms, as they are related to a wide range of job stressors and these relationships prevail over time. Potential underlying mechanisms, including the immediacy of physiological reactions to stressors, participants' attributions concerning stressor/physical symptom relationships, and the possible multidimensional nature of symptoms, are proposed and discussed.
Descriptors (primary) symptoms; psychology of work organization; stress factors; risk factors
Descriptors (secondary) state of health; gastrointestinal diseases; mental workload; sleep disturbances; human relations; literature survey
Document type D - Periodical articles
Subject(s) Psychology and sociology
Occupational pathology
Broad subject area(s) Occupational medicine, epidemiology
Stress, psychosocial factors
Browse category(ies) Gastrointestinal diseases
Psychology of work organization
Mental workload