Emotional demands at work and risk of depressive disorder: A nationwide Danish cohort study

• Published in: European journal of public health 2019-11, Vol.29 (Supplement_4)
• Main Authors: Madsen, I E H, Svane-Petersen, A C, Framke, E, Sørensen, J K, Rugulies, R
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bias; Cohort analysis; Emotions; Matrices; Medical treatment; Mental depression; Occupations; Population studies; Prevention; Public health; Quartiles; Risk; Surgeons; Workplaces
• ISSN: 1101-1262; 1464-360X
• DOI: 10.1093/eurpub/ckz186.304

Abstract Background Studies suggest that high emotional demands at work are associated with increased risk of depression. However, most previous studies have measured emotional demands using self-report and estimates may be inflated due to reporting bias. Furthermore, no study has yet accounted for the potential selection of individuals with increased risk of depressive disorder into occupations with high emotional demands. Methods We analyzed data from two separate nationwide register-based Danish cohorts, The Danish Work Life Course Cohort (n = 955,712; person-years=6.99 mill.), and the JEMPAD study (n = 1,680,214; person-years=21.73 mill.). We measured emotional demands annually by job exposure matrices, and depressive disorder using registers on psychiatric hospital treatment. Emotional demands were categorized as quartiles. To account for selection into jobs with high emotional demands, we adjusted for numerous confounders, including health services use before workforce entry, parental socioeconomic position, and psychiatric and somatic diagnoses. The present abstract reports preliminary results based on a subset of the study population used as a development sample (n = 16,163, person-years=168,889). Final results will be available for the conference. Results Preliminary findings showed a tendency towards an increased risk of depressive disorder for employees in occupations with the highest level of emotional demands (hazard ratio: 1.20 (95% CI: 0.85-1.69). The association was similar with and without adjustment for confounders and was not explained by selection into occupations with high emotional demands. Conclusions If confirmed in analyses of the full study population, our results suggest that high emotional demands at work may be associated with increased risk of depressive disorder, and that this association is explained by neither reporting bias nor a selection of individuals vulnerable to depression into occupations with high emotional demands. Key messages Emotional demands may be associated with an increased risk of depressive disorder. Further research is needed to explore the potential for workplace prevention of high emotional demands.