The Contributions Made by Job Satisfaction and Psychosocial Stress to the Development and Persistence of Depressive Symptoms: A 1-year Prospective Study.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the factors that contributed to the development and persistence of depression over the course of 1 year in work environment.

METHODS: The subjects were 992 Japanese civil servants aged between 19 and 65 years. Baseline data and linked with data collected at 1-year follow up.

RESULTS: After adjusting for baseline depression levels, job satisfaction and work-related psychosocial stress (job control and job demand) were significantly related to depression at 1-year follow up. Moreover, those who reported job dissatisfaction were at higher risk of developing depression (ORs: 1.94) and persistent depression associated with low job control (ORs: 2.64) and high job demand (ORs: 2.20).

CONCLUSIONS: Job satisfaction, and psychosocial stress at baseline predicted development of and recovery from depression at 1-year follow up respectively.