Kaori Fujishiro

Justice at Work, Job Stress, and Employee Health

A small but growing literature has documented an association between justice at work and employee health. However, the pathways and mechanisms underlying this association are not well understood. This article proposes a conceptual framework that bridges the organizational justice, occupational stress, and occupational epidemiology literatures. Justice appraisals are proposed to be both important mediators and moderators in the causal flow from exposure to the organizational environment to employee health. The potential role of justice in enhancing employee health is compared to that of the well-established concepts of social support and job control. Directions for future research are suggested, along with strategies for overcoming challenges inherent in this multidisciplinary area of research. Implications for work-site health interventions are discussed.

A life course perspective on migration and mental health among Asian immigrants: The role of human agency

The relationship between human agency and health is an important yet under-researched topic. This study uses a life course perspective to examine how human agency (measured by voluntariness, migratory reasons, and planning) and timing (measured by age at immigration) affect mental health outcomes among Asian immigrants in the United States. Data from the National Latino and Asian American Study showed that Asian immigrants (n=1491) with multiple strong reasons to migrate were less likely to suffer from mental health problems (i.e., psychological distress and psychiatric disorders in the past 12 months) than those without clear goals. Moreover, Asian immigrants with adequate migratory planning had lower levels of distress and lower rates of 12-month psychiatric disorders than those with poorly planned migration. Compared with migrants of the youngest age category (six or younger), those who migrated during preteen and adolescent years without clear goals had higher levels of psychological distress, and those who migrated during adulthood (25 years or older) were less likely to suffer from recent depressive disorders (with the exception of those migrating for life-improving goals). Furthermore, we found that well-planned migration lowered acculturative stress, and multiple strong reasons for migration buffered the negative effect of acculturative stress upon mental health. Findings from this study advance research on immigrant health from the life course perspective by highlighting the effects of exercising human agency during the pre-migration stage upon post-migration mental health.

Associations of occupation, job control and job demands with intima-media thickness: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA)

Objectives Occupation has been linked to cardiovascular disease (CVD) incidence and mortality, but few studies have investigated occupation in relation to early atherosclerotic disease. This study examined associations between various occupational characteristics and carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) in a multi-ethnic sample. Methods The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) recruited 6814 adults aged 45–84 years and free of clinical CVD (response rate 60%, 51% female). Questionnaire data were used to determine occupational group (managerial/professional, sales/office, service, blue-collar), psychosocial job characteristics (ie, job demands, job control) and other sociodemographic information. Results Common carotid artery (CCA)-IMT was greater for blue-collar jobs than for management/professional jobs (mean difference=0.012 mm, p=0.049) after adjustment for age, sex, race, place of birth (US or foreign born) and CVD risk factors. Compared to management/professional jobs, internal carotid artery (ICA)-IMT was greater for sales/office, service and blue-collar jobs (mean difference=0.071 mm, p<0.001; 0.057 mm, p=0.009; and 0.110 mm, p<0.001, respectively) after adjustment for age, sex, race and place of birth. The difference between blue-collar jobs and management/professional jobs remained significant after additional adjustment for CVD risk factors, income and education (mean difference=0.048 mm, p=0.045). Higher levels of control at work were associated with thinner CCA-IMT (mean difference=−0.009 mm, p=0.016, adjusted for age, sex, race and place of birth) but not with ICA-IMT. Job demands had no significant association with IMT. Conclusions Blue-collar jobs and low levels of job control were associated with the development of subclinical atherosclerosis.

Is perceived racial privilege associated with health? Findings from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System☆

While racial discrimination has gained increasing attention in public health research, little is known about perceived racial privilege and health. Using the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data, this study explored the relationship of both perceived racial discrimination and privilege with well-being in the USA. Data were extracted from the BRFSS 2004 data set, in which 22,412 respondents in seven states and one major city provided data on perceived racial discrimination and privilege at work. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to examine the relationships of differential racial treatment to self-rated general health status and the number of physically and mentally unhealthy days. Racially stratified analyses found that perceived racial privilege was significantly associated with more days of poor physical and mental health. This relationship was consistent for Whites, but for racial minorities it appeared on only some outcome measures. Reports of being treated worse than other races in the workplace were associated with poor health for all racial groups, as had been reported in previous studies on racial discrimination. Because racial discrimination and racial privilege are both products of racism, this studys findings suggest that racism may harm all involved. Impacts of perceived racial privilege deserve more attention in the literature on racism and health.

Workplace harassment, stress, and drinking behavior over time: Gender differences in a national sample

Research suggests that workplace harassment (WH) significantly predicts alcohol use and problem drinking behavior, but has generally failed to consider concurrent effects of other sources of stress. This two-wave study (n=1418) is the first to explore whether sexual harassment (SH) and generalized workplace harassment (GWH) predict increased drinking independently of the effects of job and life stress, and whether effects differ by gender, in a nationally representative sample. SH and GWH predicted increases in problem drinking one year later for men but not women, while life stress was associated with increased problem drinking for women but not men. This study confirms the importance of examining the associations between different types of stressors and drinking-related outcomes in gendered contexts.

Current employment status, occupational category, occupational hazard exposure and job stress in relation to telomere length: the Multiethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA)

Objective Telomere length has been proposed as a biomarker of cell senescence, which is associated with a wide array of adverse health outcomes. While work is a major determinant of health, few studies have investigated the association of telomere length with various dimensions of occupation. Accelerated cellular aging could be a common pathway linking occupational exposure to several health outcomes. Methods Leukocyte telomere length was assessed using quantitative PCR in a community-based sample of 981 individuals (age: 45–84 years). Questionnaires were used to collect information on current employment status, current or main occupation before retirement and job strain. The Occupational Resource Network (O*NET) database was linked to the questionnaire data to create five exposure measures: physical activity on the job, physical hazard exposure, interpersonal stressors, job control and job demands. Linear regression was used to estimate associations of occupational characteristics with telomere lengths after adjustment for age, sex, race, socioeconomic position and several behavioural risk factors. Results There were no mean differences in telomere lengths across current employment status, occupational category, job strain categories or levels of most O*NET exposure measures. There was also no evidence that being in lower status occupational categories or being exposed to higher levels of adverse physical or psychosocial exposures accelerated the association between age and telomere shortening. Conclusions Cellular aging as reflected by shorter telomeres does not appear to be an important pathway linking occupation to various health outcomes.

Associations of Workplace Aggression With Work-Related Well-Being Among Nurses in the Philippines

OBJECTIVES We examined whether workplace aggression was associated with self-rated health and work-related injury and illness among nurses in the Philippines. METHODS Our data came from a cross-sectional survey of nurses (n = 687) in the Philippines. We assessed the associations of self-reported physical assault and verbal abuse with self-rated health, work-related injury and illness, and missed workdays with Poisson regression. Control variables included demographic and work characteristics (e.g., hours worked, work setting, shift). RESULTS Verbal abuse was associated with poor general health (prevalence ratio [PR] = 1.94; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.09, 3.45). Both physical assault and verbal abuse were associated with work-related injury (PR = 1.48; 95% CI = 1.00, 2.20; PR = 1.72; 95% CI = 1.34, 2.23, respectively) and work-related illness (PR = 1.46; 95% CI = 0.99, 2.15; PR = 1.68; 95% CI = 1.32, 2.14, respectively) after demographic and work characteristics were accounted for in the model. In addition, physical assault was associated with missed workdays (PR = 1.56; 95% CI = 1.02, 2.33). CONCLUSIONS Workplace aggression was associated with increased risks of poor general health and adverse work-related health outcomes among nurses in the Philippines.

Translating Questionnaire Items for a Multi-Lingual Worker Population: The Iterative Process of Translation and Cognitive Interviews With English-,Spanish-, and Chinese-Speaking Workers

BACKGROUND The increasing ethnic diversity of the US workforce has created a need for research tools that can be used with multi-lingual worker populations. Developing multi-language questionnaire items is a complex process; however, very little has been documented in the literature. METHODS Commonly used English items from the Job Content Questionnaire and Quality of Work Life Questionnaire were translated by two interdisciplinary bilingual teams and cognitively tested in interviews with English-, Spanish-, and Chinese-speaking workers. RESULTS Common problems across languages mainly concerned response format. Language-specific problems required more conceptual than literal translations. Some items were better understood by non-English speakers than by English speakers. De-centering (i.e., modifying the English original to correspond with translation) produced better understanding for one item. CONCLUSIONS Translating questionnaire items and achieving equivalence across languages require various kinds of expertise. Backward translation itself is not sufficient. More research efforts should be concentrated on qualitative approaches to developing useful research tools.

Stressors, resources, and well‐being among Latino and White warehouse workers in the United States

BACKGROUND Social forces and cultural factors may contribute to Latino and White workers experiencing similar jobs differently. This study examines the psychosocial stressors and resources experienced by Latino and White workers in manual material handling jobs in the US and the effects of these stressors and resources on worker well-being. METHODS Fifty-nine Latino warehouse workers were matched with White workers by job title, job tenure, and warehouse facility. Matched sample t tests and linear regression analyses models were conducted. RESULTS Results reveal similar psychosocial stressors and resources for both groups. However, Latino workers reported better well-being. For Latino workers, social resources at work such as management fairness and supervisor support have a stronger relationship with well-being. For White workers wage fairness is the most significant predictor for well-being. CONCLUSIONS These differential results challenge us to consider how cultural factors, expectations and the prior work history of Latino workers may influence their experience of work and the effect of work on health.

Job strain and changes in the body mass index among working women: a prospective study.

Objective:The relationship between job strain and weight gain has been unclear, especially for women. Using data from over 52 000 working women, we compare the association between change in job strain and change in body mass index (BMI) across different levels of baseline BMI.Subjects/Methods:We used data from participants in the Nurses’ Health Study II (n=52 656, mean age=38.4 years), an ongoing prospective cohort study. Using linear regression, we modeled the change in BMI over 4 years as a function of the change in job strain, baseline BMI and the interaction between the two. Change in job strain was characterized in four categories combining baseline and follow-up levels as follows: consistently low strain (low at both points), decreased strain (high strain at baseline only), increased strain (high strain at follow-up only) and consistently high strain (high at both points). Age, race/ethnicity, pregnancy history, job types and health behaviors at baseline were controlled for in the model.Results:In adjusted models, women who reported high job strain at least once during the 4-year period had a greater increase in BMI (ΔBMI=0.06–0.12, P<0.05) compared with those who never reported high job strain. The association between the change in job strain exposure and the change in BMI depended on the baseline BMI level (P=0.015 for the interaction): the greater the baseline BMI, the greater the BMI gain associated with consistently high job strain. The BMI gain associated with increased or decreased job strain was uniform across the range of baseline BMI.Conclusions:Women with higher BMI may be more vulnerable to BMI gain when exposed to constant work stress. Future research focusing on mediating mechanisms between job strain and BMI change should explore the possibility of differential responses to job strain by initial BMI.