Nancy Beauregard

Gendered depression: Vulnerability or exposure to work and family stressors?

OBJECTIVE Research has shown that employed women are more prone to depression than men, but the pathways linking gender to depression remain poorly understood. The aim of this study was to examine how work and family conditions operated as potentially gendered antecedents of depression. It evaluated more specifically how differences in depressive symptoms in women and men could be explained by their differential vulnerability and exposure to work and family conditions, as well as by the mediating role of work-to-family conflict (WFC) and family-to-work conflict (FWC). METHODS Data were collected in 2009-2012 from a sample of 1935 employees (48.9% women) nested in 63 workplaces in the province of Quebec (Canada). Data were analyzed with multilevel path analysis models to test for the differential exposure hypothesis, and stratified by gender to test for the differential vulnerability hypothesis. RESULTS Results supported both hypothesizes, but only WFC played a mediating role between work-family stressors and depression. Regarding the vulnerability hypothesis, WFC was more strongly associated with women depressive symptoms, and the magnitude of the association between family income and WFC was stronger for women. Overall, the differential exposure hypothesis seemed to reach a greater empirical support. After accounting for work and family stressors as well as WFC, differences in depressive symptoms in women and men were no longer significantly, as WFC, working hours, irregular work schedule and skill utilization acted as mediators. WFC associated with higher depressive symptoms and skill utilization with lower depressive symptoms. WFC related to higher working hours and irregular work schedule. Compared to men, women reported higher WFC, but lower working hours, less irregular work schedule and lower skill utilization at work. CONCLUSION Womens higher rate of depression is intrinsically linked to their different social experiences as shaped by a gendered social structure and gendered organizations.

Organizational Learning Facilitators in the Canadian Public Sector

Organizational learning (OL) is considered to be a central element in the renewal of Canadas federal public service. What factors facilitate OL in this sector? How can these factors be measured? This study aims to answer these questions by describing the development of an instrument designed to produce a valid measure of the organizational learning facilitators (OLFs) relevant to public sector organizations. The confirmatory analysis indicated a 6-factor solution with 5 first-order factors (“knowledge acquisition and transformation,” “learning support,” “earning culture,” “learning leadership, and “strategic management”) and one second-order factor (“learning environment”). Results indicate that the OLF measure is a significant predictor of organizational outcomes.

Work and non-work stressors, psychological distress and obesity: evidence from a 14-year study on Canadian workers

Objective This study aimed to evaluate the contribution of work, non-work and individual factors to obesity with regard to gender-related differences, and to clarify the mediating role that psychological distress plays in these dynamics in Canada from 1994 to 2008 using the Canadian National Population Health Survey (NPHS). Design Longitudinal. Settings The NPHS is a randomised longitudinal cohort study with biennial interviews of the Canadian adult population from 18 to 64. Participants 5925 non-obese workers in cycle 1 (49% were women). Measurements Obesity was measured using the body mass index (BMI), with a threshold of BMI >30 kg/m2. BMI was corrected in accordance with the recommendations of Connor Gorber et al to adjust for gender bias in responses. Results Of the work characteristics evaluated, only decision authority was associated with obesity for women but not for men. Living as a couple, child-related strains, psychotropic drug use, hypertension, being physically inactive and low psychological distress were obesity risk factors but were not moderated by gender. Overall, psychological distress did not mediate the associations that work factors have on obesity. Conclusions Our study suggests that men and women differ little in the extent to which work, non-work and individual factors predict obesity. However, for women, the level of decision authority is associated with a lower obesity risk. In addition, psychological distress did not mediate the contribution of work factors and actually seems, contrary to expectations, to decrease the obesity risk when work, non-work and individual factors are taken into account.

Gendered Pathways to Burnout: Results from the SALVEO Study

Aim Burnout is a pervasive mental health problem in the workforce, with mounting evidence suggesting ties with occupational and safety outcomes such as work injuries, critical events and musculoskeletal disorders. While environmental [work and non-work, work-to-family conflict (WFC)] and individual (personality) pathways to burnout are well documented, little is known about how gender comes to influence such associative patterns. The aim of the study consisted in examining gendered pathways to burnout. Methods Data were derived from the SALVEO study, a cross-sectional study of 2026 workers from 63 workplaces from the province of Québec (Canada). Data were analyzed using multilevel path analysis. Results Direct effects of gendered pathways were evidenced for work (e.g. decision latitude) and non-work (e.g. child-related strains) environmental pathways, as well as for individual pathways (i.e. internal locus of control). Indirect effects of gendered pathways were also evidenced, with women reporting higher levels of burnout compared to men due to lower levels of decision latitude and of self-esteem, as well as higher levels of WFC. Women also reported lower burnout levels through investing more time into domestic tasks, which could represent a recovery strategy to highly demanding work. WFC further mediated the associations between working hours and burnout, as well as the between irregular work schedules and burnout. These result suggest than men distinctively reported higher levels of burnout due to the specific nature of their work contract negatively impacting on WFC, and incidentally, on their mental health. Conclusion Study results supported our hypotheses positing that gender distinctively shapes environmental and individual pathways to burnout. OHS prevention efforts striving for better mental health outcomes in the workforce could relevantly be informed by a gendered approach to burnout.

Exposure to Work and Nonwork Stressors and the Development of Heart Disease Among Canadian Workers Aged 40 Years and Older: A 16-year Follow-up Study (1994 to 2010)

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the contribution of work, nonwork, and individual factors to self-reported heart disease, and to evaluate gender-related differences over a period of 16 years among Canadian workers aged 40 years and more. Methods: Using the National Population Health Survey (NPHS, 1994 to 2010), we estimated multilevel logistic regression models (N = 2996). Results: Couple-related strains, being a man, age, hypertension, and body mass index, are associated with an increased risk of heart disease. In analysis stratified by gender, physical demands at work and having high child-related strains were associated with heart disease specifically among women. Psychotropic drug use increased the risk of heart disease only in men. Conclusion: Our study suggests that work stressors measured by Statistics Canada NPHS are largely not associated with the risk of heart disease, except in women exposed to physical demands at work.