IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i5p2494-d509609.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Job Stress and Mental Well-Being among Working Men and Women in Europe: The Mediating Role of Social Support

Author

Listed:
  • Aziz Mensah

    (Bielefeld Graduate School in History and Sociology (BGHS), Bielefeld University, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany
    School of Health, Care, and Social Welfare, Mälardalen University, 722 20 Västerås, Sweden)

Abstract

Job stress is one of the most common health issues in many organizations, particularly among women. Moreover, an increase in job stress with low social support may have an adverse effect on mental well-being. This study investigated the mediating role of social support in the relationship between job stress and mental well-being among working men and women in Europe. A cross sectional data set from the 2015 6th European Working Conditions Survey on 14,603 men and 15,486 women from 35 countries in Europe was analyzed. The study applied Hayes process macro 4 modelling technique to estimate the direct, indirect, and total effects of job stress on mental well-being among working adults. The study further used the Hayes process macro 59 model to estimate the gender difference in the mediating effect. The results showed that job stress had a direct negative effect on mental well-being among workers in Europe ( β = − 0.2352 , p < 0.05 ). However, there were significant gender differences in the relationship ( β = − 0.3729 , p < 0.05 ) , with women having higher effect size than men ( men : β = − 3.9129 , p < 0.05 vs . women : β = − 4.2858 , p < 0.05 ) . Furthermore, the indirect effect showed that social support mediated the relationship of job stress on mental well-being ( β = − 0.0181 , CI : − 0.0212 − 0.0153 ). Nevertheless, the mediating effect of social support did not differ among men and women. This study provides evidence that job stress has a negative impact on mental well-being among working adults, and social support mediates this relationship. The results highlight the importance of the role of support from colleagues and supervisors at the work place, which may help reduce job stress, and improve mental well-being. Sociological and occupational health researchers should not ignore the role of gender when studying work environment and jobs in general.

Suggested Citation

  • Aziz Mensah, 2021. "Job Stress and Mental Well-Being among Working Men and Women in Europe: The Mediating Role of Social Support," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-18, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:5:p:2494-:d:509609
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/5/2494/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/5/2494/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ju-Hyun Kim & Ae-Ryoung Kim & Myung-Gwan Kim & Chul-Hyun Kim & Ki-Hoon Lee & Donghwi Park & Jong-Moon Hwang, 2020. "Burnout Syndrome and Work-Related Stress in Physical and Occupational Therapists Working in Different Types of Hospitals: Which Group Is the Most Vulnerable?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(14), pages 1-18, July.
    2. José Joaquín Del Pozo-Antúnez & Antonio Ariza-Montes & Francisco Fernández-Navarro & Horacio Molina-Sánchez, 2018. "Effect of a Job Demand-Control-Social Support Model on Accounting Professionals’ Health Perception," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-16, November.
    3. Donald B. Rubin, 2005. "Causal Inference Using Potential Outcomes: Design, Modeling, Decisions," Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Statistical Association, vol. 100, pages 322-331, March.
    4. Johnson, J.V. & Hall, E.M., 1988. "Job strain, work place social support, and cardiovascular disease: A cross-sectional study of random sample of the Swedish Working Population," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 78(10), pages 1336-1342.
    5. Pilar Rivera-Torres & Rafael Angel Araque-Padilla & María José Montero-Simó, 2013. "Job Stress Across Gender: The Importance of Emotional and Intellectual Demands and Social Support in Women," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-15, January.
    6. Tore Bonsaksen & Mikkel Magnus Thørrisen & Jens Christoffer Skogen & Randi Wågø Aas, 2019. "Who reported having a high-strain job, low-strain job, active job and passive job? The WIRUS Screening study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(12), pages 1-13, December.
    7. Chi-Ming Hsieh & Bi-Kun Tsai, 2019. "Effects of Social Support on the Stress-Health Relationship: Gender Comparison among Military Personnel," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-15, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hee-Kyung Kim, 2022. "In the COVID-19 Era, Effects of Job Stress, Coping Strategies, Meaning in Life and Resilience on Psychological Well-Being of Women Workers in the Service Sector," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-15, August.
    2. Kumi Matsumura & Kanami Tsuno & Masumi Okamoto & Akiko Takahashi & Akio Kurokawa & Yuko Watanabe & Honami Yoshida, 2023. "The Association between the Severity of Dysmenorrhea and Psychological Distress of Women Working in Central Tokyo—A Preliminary Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(21), pages 1-11, November.
    3. Mensah, Aziz & Toivanen, Susanna & Diewald, Martin & Ul Hassan, Mahmood & Nyberg, Anna, 2022. "Workplace gender harassment, illegitimate tasks, and poor mental health: Hypothesized associations in a Swedish cohort," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 315(C).
    4. Paula Franklin & Wouter Zwysen & Agnieszka Piasna, 2022. "Temporal Dimensions of Job Quality and Gender: Exploring Differences in the Associations of Working Time and Health between Women and Men," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(8), pages 1-18, April.
    5. Giusy Danila Valenti & Palmira Faraci & Paola Magnano, 2021. "Emotional Intelligence and Social Support: Two Key Factors in Preventing Occupational Stress during COVID-19," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-15, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rémi Colin-Chevalier & Bruno Pereira & Amanda Clare Benson & Samuel Dewavrin & Thomas Cornet & Frédéric Dutheil, 2022. "The Protective Role of Job Control/Autonomy on Mental Strain of Managers: A Cross-Sectional Study among Wittyfit’s Users," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-10, February.
    2. Sabrina Berlanda & Marta Fraizzoli & Federica de Cordova & Monica Pedrazza, 2019. "Psychosocial Risks and Violence Against Teachers. Is It Possible to Promote Well-Being at Work?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-13, November.
    3. Igor Portoghese & Maura Galletta & Michael P. Leiter & Gabriele Finco & Ernesto d’Aloja & Marcello Campagna, 2020. "Job Demand-Control-Support Latent Profiles and Their Relationships with Interpersonal Stressors, Job Burnout, and Intrinsic Work Motivation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(24), pages 1-21, December.
    4. Hannah Carver & Tracey Price & Danilo Falzon & Peter McCulloch & Tessa Parkes, 2022. "Stress and Wellbeing during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mixed-Methods Exploration of Frontline Homelessness Services Staff Experiences in Scotland," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-20, March.
    5. Salvatore Bimonte & Antonella D’Agostino, 2021. "Tourism development and residents’ well-being: Comparing two seaside destinations in Italy," Tourism Economics, , vol. 27(7), pages 1508-1525, November.
    6. Suzuki, Etsuji & Takao, Soshi & Subramanian, S.V. & Komatsu, Hirokazu & Doi, Hiroyuki & Kawachi, Ichiro, 2010. "Does low workplace social capital have detrimental effect on workers' health?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(9), pages 1367-1372, May.
    7. Akiomi Inoue & Hisashi Eguchi & Yuko Kachi & Sarven S. McLinton & Maureen F. Dollard & Akizumi Tsutsumi, 2021. "Reliability and Validity of the Japanese Version of the 12-Item Psychosocial Safety Climate Scale (PSC-12J)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(24), pages 1-14, December.
    8. Georges Steffgen & Philipp E. Sischka & Martha Fernandez de Henestrosa, 2020. "The Quality of Work Index and the Quality of Employment Index: A Multidimensional Approach of Job Quality and Its Links to Well-Being at Work," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-31, October.
    9. Huizing, Anna R. & Hamers, Jan P.H. & de Jonge, Jan & Candel, Math & Berger, Martijn P.F., 2007. "Organisational determinants of the use of physical restraints: A multilevel approach," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(5), pages 924-933, September.
    10. Rosie Mulholland & Andy McKinlay & John Sproule, 2013. "Teacher Interrupted," SAGE Open, , vol. 3(3), pages 21582440135, September.
    11. Elisabeth Dahlbäck & Carita Håkansson, 2023. "A Comparison of the Self-Perceived Organisational and Social Work Environment among Swedish Occupational Therapists in Different Job Sectors: An Observational Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-10, February.
    12. Sahar Saeed & Erica E. M. Moodie & Erin C. Strumpf & Marina B. Klein, 2018. "Segmented generalized mixed effect models to evaluate health outcomes," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 63(4), pages 547-551, May.
    13. Myra Sader & Barthélemy Chollet & Sébastien Brion & Olivier Trendel, 2021. "Supported, detached, or marginalized? The ambivalent role of social capital on stress at work," Post-Print hal-03167159, HAL.
    14. Lea Sell & Bryan Cleal, 2011. "Job Satisfaction, Work Environment, and Rewards: Motivational Theory Revisited," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 25(1), pages 1-23, March.
    15. Yiran Zhang & Andrew Ying & Steve Edland & Lon White & Ronghui Xu, 2024. "Marginal Structural Illness-Death Models for Semi-competing Risks Data," Statistics in Biosciences, Springer;International Chinese Statistical Association, vol. 16(3), pages 668-692, December.
    16. Manuel S. González Canché, 2017. "Financial Benefits of Rapid Student Loan Repayment: An Analytic Framework Employing Two Decades of Data," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 671(1), pages 154-182, May.
    17. Almer, Christian & Winkler, Ralph, 2017. "Analyzing the effectiveness of international environmental policies: The case of the Kyoto Protocol," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 125-151.
    18. Sanford C. Gordon & Hannah K. Simpson, 2020. "Causes, theories, and the past in political science," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 185(3), pages 315-333, December.
    19. Angelov, Nikolay & Eliason, Marcus, 2014. "The effects of targeted labour market programs for job seekers with occupational disabilities," Working Paper Series 2014:27, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    20. Mark Kattenberg & Bas Scheer & Jurre Thiel, 2023. "Causal forests with fixed effects for treatment effect heterogeneity in difference-in-differences," CPB Discussion Paper 452, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:5:p:2494-:d:509609. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.