A cohort study of the relationship between perceived job stress and mental health

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To determine whether perceived job stress affects mental health in occupational setting, a 2-year cohort study was conducted. Of 462 workers who initially sowed a General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) score of 7 or less, 310 were successfully followed for 2 years. The two-year risks of developing mental ill health (a GHQ score of 8 or more) were assessed in relation to perceived job stress. The overall two-year risk for developing mental ill health was very high at 57.7%. Workers who reported aspects of perceived job stress showed a greater 2-year risk than those without stress. Multiple logistic regression analyzes showed that some components of perceived job stress were associated with a higher 2-year risk, among which "not allow to make mistakes" showed the largest adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of 2.37 (1.32-4.29). "Poor relationship with superior" had a significant effect on mental health only in females. Certain items of perceived job stress to be associated with mental ill health in workers.To clarify the degree of recovery from mentally ill states in occupational settings and the nature of perceived job stress associated with recovery, a 1-year cohort study was carried out in 287 of 763 workers who showed a GHQ score of 8 or more. Recovery from mentally ill states was observed in 48.7% after the first 6 months and in 68.0% after 1 year. During the first 6-month period, no job stress item associated with recovery was identified. During the second 6-month period, the odds ratio (95% CI) between recovery and perceived job stress was 4.16 (1.32-13.1) for "Too much responsibility" even after control of potential confounders. To promote recovery inmentally ill workers in the workplace, reduction in their responsibility may be effective.