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Precarious Employment and Chronic Stress: Do Social Support Networks Matter?

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  • Francesc Belvis

    (Research Group on Health Inequalities, Environment, and Employment Conditions (GREDS-EMCONET), Department of Political and Social Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08005 Barcelona, Spain
    Johns Hopkins University—Universitat Pompeu Fabra Public Policy Center (UPF-PPC), 08005 Barcelona, Spain)

  • Mireia Bolíbar

    (Research Group on Health Inequalities, Environment, and Employment Conditions (GREDS-EMCONET), Department of Political and Social Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08005 Barcelona, Spain
    Department of Sociology, Universitat de Barcelona, 08034 Barcelona, Spain)

  • Joan Benach

    (Research Group on Health Inequalities, Environment, and Employment Conditions (GREDS-EMCONET), Department of Political and Social Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08005 Barcelona, Spain
    Johns Hopkins University—Universitat Pompeu Fabra Public Policy Center (UPF-PPC), 08005 Barcelona, Spain
    Ecological Humanities Research Group (GHECO), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain)

  • Mireia Julià

    (Research Group on Health Inequalities, Environment, and Employment Conditions (GREDS-EMCONET), Department of Political and Social Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08005 Barcelona, Spain
    ESIMar (Mar Nursing School), Parc de Salut Mar, Universitat Pompeu Fabra-Affiliated, 08005 Barcelona, Spain
    SDHEd (Social Determinants and Health Education Research Group), IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute), 08005 Barcelona, Spain)

Abstract

Precarious employment has been identified as a potentially damaging stressor. Conversely, social support networks have a well-known protective effect on health and well-being. The ways in which precariousness and social support may interact have scarcely been studied with respect to either perceived stress or objective stress biomarkers. This research aims to fill this gap by means of a cross-sectional study based on a non-probability quota sample of 250 workers aged 25–60 in Barcelona, Spain. Fieldwork was carried out between May 2019 and January 2020. Employment precariousness, perceived social support and stress levels were measured by means of scales, while individual steroid profiles capturing the chronic stress suffered over a period of a month were obtained from hair samples using a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry methodology. As for perceived stress, analysis indicates that a reverse buffering effect exists (interaction B = 0.22, p = 0.014). Steroid biomarkers are unrelated to social support, while association with precariousness is weak and only reaches significance at p < 0.05 in the case of women and 20ß dihydrocortisone metabolites. These results suggest that social support can have negative effects on the relationship between perceived health and an emerging stressful condition like precariousness, while its association with physiological measures of stress remains uncertain.

Suggested Citation

  • Francesc Belvis & Mireia Bolíbar & Joan Benach & Mireia Julià, 2022. "Precarious Employment and Chronic Stress: Do Social Support Networks Matter?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-14, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:3:p:1909-:d:744699
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Milner, Allison & Krnjacki, Lauren & Butterworth, Peter & LaMontagne, Anthony D., 2016. "The role of social support in protecting mental health when employed and unemployed: A longitudinal fixed-effects analysis using 12 annual waves of the HILDA cohort," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 20-26.
    2. Pena, Edsel A. & Slate, Elizabeth H., 2006. "Global Validation of Linear Model Assumptions," Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Statistical Association, vol. 101, pages 341-354, March.
    3. Wayne Lewchuk & Marlea Clarke & Alice de Wolff, 2008. "Working without commitments: precarious employment and health," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 22(3), pages 387-406, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Mireia Julià & Fabrizio Méndez-Rivero & Álex Gómez-Gómez & Óscar J. Pozo & Mireia Bolíbar, 2022. "Association between Precarious Employment and Chronic Stress: Effect of Gender, Stress Measurement and Precariousness Dimensions—A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-14, July.
    2. Fabrizio Méndez-Rivero & Óscar J. Pozo & Mireia Julià, 2022. "Gender Differences in the Indirect Effect of Psychosocial Work Environment in the Association of Precarious Employment and Chronic Stress: A Cross-Sectional Mediation Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-13, December.
    3. Massimo Arnone & Angelo Leogrande & Carlo Drago & Alberto Costantiello, 2024. "Social Trust and Support Networks: A Regional Analysis of Italy," Working Papers hal-04698270, HAL.

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