Aim: Recent research has highlighted the importance of personal and job-related resources in sustaining employee engagement and motivation, and reducing burnout and ill-health. Following the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) approach which distinguishes between two related constructs (engagement and burnout) and indicates how these are differentially related to motivational and health outcomes in the workplace, the current study analysed interpersonal resources and job resources to determine how these work to alleviate anxiety and depression in the workplace.
Design: A latent modelling approach was used to specify the theoretical model which contained two types of interpersonal resources (supervisor and co-worker support), two types of job resources (control and income), two affective personal resources (PA and NA), anxiety and depression. The final model was also simultaneously tested across subgroups representing those with lower and higher working hours.
Method: Data were collected from a web-based survey of 416 employed Australians.
Results: The multigroup SEM with measurement weights, structural weights and structural covariances constrained to be equal across groups was a good fit to the data with Chi square = 55.682, df = 43, p = .09, GFI = .97, CFI = .99, RMSEA = .03. Job resources exerted an indirect (beneficial) effect on depression through PA confirming the importance of control as a contributor to positive affective well-being. Interpersonal resources exerted multiple indirect (beneficial) effects on depression through PA, NA, and anxiety indicating that these multiple pathways are all important in alleviating anxiety and depression, primarily through reducing negative affective well-being. These beneficial effects are evident for both those with lower and higher working hours.
Conclusion: Supportive work climates may be particularly effective in reducing anxiety and depression when they are combined with other work factors that enhance employees’ sense of control. This study also highlights that personal affective resources are the immediate precursors to anxiety and depression in the workplace
