The Preventive Potential of the Age Specific Mediation of Education and Depressiveness by Work-Related Stress

Introduction

Goal of the lidA-study is the identification of factors which influence the health of an aging work force in Germany. Under the aspect of workplace health promotion psychosocial work strain and social differences in work load are important. Especially psychosocial work strain has a high predictive value regarding work associated diseases. Depression is the mental disease with the highest percentage of days absent at work, loss of productivity and early retirement in Germany. A social gradient in the frequency of depression is well known. Depressiveness enables a higher accuracy of discrimination of the influence of covariates than depression as an outcome. Against this background we investigated the mediating effect of work-related stress between education and depressiveness in two age groups.

Methods

This explorative analysis is based on data of the first wave of the lidA-study. The mediating effect of work-related stress in the association between education and depressiveness has been analyzed with multiple linear regression analysis. Depressiveness was measured by the sum score of BDI-V. Education was parameterized by a score of school education and vocational training. Work-related stress was measured by the model of effort-reward-imbalance. The mediating effect of ERI was analyzed for the whole sample and for both age cohorts (1959, 1965) separately. It was adjusted for gender, negative affectivity and overcommitment.

Results

For the whole sample the direct association between education and depressiveness was weak (ß=-0.168, p=0.082). The indirect effect over work-related stress was statistical significant (ß=-0.062, p<0.001). For the older cohort there was no direct association between education and depressiveness, but a significant indirect effect (ß=-0.061, p<0.01). In the younger cohort both direct (ß=-0.296, p<0.05). and indirect (ß=-0.063, p<0.01) effects were significant. Regarding the total effects only the younger cohort had a significant effect (ß=-0.358, p<0.01) but not the older one (ß=-0.069, p=0.643).

Conclusions

The association between education and depressiveness was stronger for the younger cohort. One explanation of this difference would be a higher subjective value of education in the younger cohort. A mediating effect of work-related stress between education and depressiveness has been observed in both age cohorts. These findings are interesting under aspects of workplace health promotion: By improving educational opportunities especially for younger employees and reduction of work-related stress for all employees times absent at work, loss of productivity and rates of early retirement could be reduced. This could contribute to compensation of the expected lack of workforce due to aging in Germany.