Anxiety Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Anxiety, including details on anxiety disorder, panic attacks, medication, counselling, therapy.

Self-reported job insecurity and health in the Whitehall II study: potential explanations of the relationship.

Ferrie JE, Shipley MJ, Newman K, Stansfeld SA, Marmot M

International Centre for Health and Society and Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London Medical School, 1-19 Torrington Place, London WC1E 6BT, UK. j.ferrie@public-health.ul.udc.sk

This paper examines the potential of demographic, personal, material and behavioural characteristics, other psychosocial features of the work environment and job satisfaction to explain associations between self-reported job insecurity and health in a longitudinal study of British white-collar civil servants. Strong associations were found between self-reported job insecurity and both poor self-rated health and minor psychiatric morbidity. After adjustment for age, employment grade and health during a prior phase of secure employment, pessimism, heightened vigilance, primary deprivation, financial security, social support and job satisfaction explained 68% of the association between job insecurity and self-rated health in women, and 36% in men. With the addition of job control, these factors explained 60% of the association between job insecurity and minor psychiatric morbidity, and just over 80% of the association with depression in both sexes.

Published 17 January 2005 in Soc Sci Med, 60(7): 1593-602.
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