Inégalités des revenus et santé perçue : recherche comparative dans trois pays européens

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal

Depressive symptoms and psychosocial stress at work among older employees in three continents

BACKGROUND: To assess whether an association of psychosocial stress at work with depressive symptoms among older employees is evident in a set of comparable empirical studies from Europe, North America and Asia. METHODS: Cross-sectional and longitudinal multivariate regression analyses of data from 4 cohort studies with elder workers (2004 and 2006) testing associations of psychosocial stress at work (‘effort-reward imbalance’; ‘low control’) with depressive symptoms. RESULTS: Cross-sectional analyses from 17 countries with 14.236 participants reveal elevated odds ratios of depressive symptoms among people experiencing high work stress compared to those with low or no work stress. Adjusted odds ratios vary from 1.64 (95% CI 1.02-2.63) in Japan to 1.97 (95% CI 1.75-2.23) in Europe and 2.28 (95% CI 1.59-3.28) in the USA. Odds ratios from additional longitudinal analyses (in 13 countries) controlling for baseline depression are smaller, but remain in part significant. CONCLUSION: Findings indicate that psychosocial stress at work might be a relevant risk factor for depressive symptoms among older employees across countries and continents. This observation may call for global policy efforts to improve quality of work in view of a rapidly aging workforce, in particular in times of economic globalization

Measuring well-being across Europe: Description of the ESS Well-being Module and preliminary findings

It has become customary to judge the success of a society through the use of objective indicators, predominantly economic and social ones. Yet in most developed nations, increases in income, education and health have arguably not produced comparable increases in happiness or life satisfaction. While much has been learned from the introduction of subjective measures of global happiness or life satisfaction into surveys, significant recent progress in the development of high-quality subjective measures of personal and social well-being has not been fully exploited. This paper describes the development of a set of well- being indicators which were included in Round 3 of the European Social Survey. This well-being Module seeks to evaluate the success of European countries in promoting the personal and social well-being of their citizens. In addition to providing a better understanding of domain-specific measures, such as those relating to family, work and income, the design of the Well-being Module recognises that advancement in the field requires us to look beyond measures which focus on how people feel (happiness, pleasure, satisfaction) to measures which are more concerned with how well they function. This also shifts the emphasis from relatively transient states of well-being to measures of more sustainable well-being. The ESS Well-being Module represents one of the first systematic attempts to create a set of policy-relevant national well-being accounts.well-being ; European social survey ; questionnaire design

Work stress and quality of life in persons with disabilities from four European countries: the case of spinal cord injury

Background: Evidence on the adverse effects of work stress on quality of life (QoL) is largely derived from general populations, while respective information is lacking for people with disabilities. We investigated associations between work stress and QoL and the potentially moderating role of socioeconomic circumstances in employed persons with spinal cord injury (SCI). Methods: Cross-sectional data from 386 employed men and women with SCI (≥18 work h/week) from the Netherlands, Switzerland, Denmark, and Norway were analyzed. Work stress was assessed with the ‘effort-reward imbalance' (ERI) model and the control component of the ‘demand/control' model. QoL was operationalized with five WHOQoL BREF items. Socioeconomic circumstances were measured by years of formal education and perception of financial hardship. We applied ordinal and linear regressions to predict QoL and introduced interaction terms to assess a potential moderation of socioeconomic circumstances. Results: Multivariate analyses showed consistent associations between increased ERI and decreased overall QoL (coefficient −1.55, p<0.001), domain-specific life satisfaction (health −1.32, p<0.001; activities of daily living −1.28, p<0.001; relationships −0.84, p=0.004; living conditions −1.05, p<0.001), and the QoL sum score (−2.40, p<0.001). Low job control was linked to decreased general QoL (0.13, p=0.015), satisfaction with relationships (0.15, p=0.004), and QoL sum score (0.15, p=0.029). None of the tested interaction terms were significant. Conclusion: ERI was consistently related to all indicators of QoL, while associations with job control were less consistent. Our results do not support the notion that unfavorable socioeconomic circumstances moderate the association between work stress and QoL among persons with SCI

Working conditions in mid-life and participation in voluntary work after labour market exit

Headlines Social position and participation across European countries Measuring working conditions in mid-life in relation to the welfare state Associations of working conditions and volunteering after labour market exit Summar

Quality of work, health and early retirement : European comparisons

Headlines: Relations of quality of work and retirement Measuring quality of work in SHARELIFE Effects of quality of work on health and early retirement Summar

Conceptual and Methodological Directions of Occupational Life Course Research

International audienc