Work and Mental Health - An Analysis of Canadian Community Health Survey

Abstract

Workplace mental health is a major concern in Canada. The primary objective of this research is to describe the relationship between work and mental health, paying particular attention to work stressors and further explore moderators and mediators of any relationships, that might be targeted in future intervention strategies. The source of the data is the two cycles of the Canadian Community Health Survey conducted by Statistics Canada. All estimates produced from the data were weighted to represent the target Ontario population using the weights provided by Statistics Canada. Estimates of the prevalence of the mental disorders and substance dependence and mean scores of work stressors, according to different groups of workers, were calculated. To examine health care use, we treated consultation with a mental health professional, use of medication-antidepressants and utilization of any resource as dependent variables. Bivariate relationships between mental health disorders and other variables explored the correlates of mental health disorders. Logistic regression was used to examine moderators and mediators of work stressors in relation to mental health disorders by including some socio-demographic variables and behavioral variables as covariates and we also included terms of their interactions with work stressors. Since the level of work stressors varied by occupation and was likely determined in part by occupation, we did not include both variables in regression analyses. Further regressions with health care utilization as the dependent variable were conducted with work stressors and occupation as independent variables and other variables as covariates and in interaction terms for people with mental health disorders. The results of the study suggest that there is strong association between work and mental health problems. The findings regarding work stressors and occupation as predictors of mental health problems suggest that work health and safety practitioners must continue to pay attention to the psychosocial conditions of work. We also explored what factors predicted whether people consulted a mental health professional (CCHSl.l) or whether they used any resource available to deal with their problem (CCHS1.2).