Abstract
PurposeEuropean policy measures have led to an increased net labour participation of older employees. Yet, via different routes (for instance disability schemes) employees still often leave the labour market early. Mental health may be an important factor hindering labour participation. Aims of this study are twofold: first, to examine the relationship between mental health—particularly depressive complaints—and indicators of labour participation among older employees over a 2-year follow-up period and second, to explore the impact of different work contexts when studying this relation.MethodsA subsample of older employees (aged > 45 years; n = 1253) from the Maastricht Cohort Study was studied. Depressive complaints were assessed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale. Logistic and Cox regression analyses covered 2 years of follow-up and were also stratified for relevant work-related factors.ResultsEmployees with mild depressive complaints showed statistically significantly higher risks for poor mental workability (HR 2.60, 95% CI 1.14–5.92) and high psychological disengagement levels (HR 2.35, 95% CI 1.21–4.57) over time compared to employees without depressive complaints. Within various work contexts, for instance in which employees perform physically demanding work or have high psychological job demands, significantly stronger associations were found between depressive complaints and poor mental workability over time.ConclusionsThis study shows strong longitudinal associations between depressive complaints and indicators of labour participation, also within different work contexts over time. Results provide valuable input for developing preventive measure aiming to enhance sustainable labour participation of older employees.
Highlights
In many developed Western countries, there is a need to increase labour market participation due to amongst others longevity and several policies have already been developed and implemented (European Commission 2014)
As for the workrelated factors, statistically significant differences in mean scores for psychological job demands, decision latitude, coworker social support, supervisor social support, emotional demands, and physically demanding work were observed between the different categories of depressive complaints
As for health factors, the percentage of employees having one or more mental/physical chronic condition(s) was significantly higher for employees with moderate/severe depressive complaints compared to employees without depressive complaints (85.3% vs 48.0)
Summary
In many developed Western countries, there is a need to increase labour market participation due to amongst others longevity and several policies have already been developed and implemented (European Commission 2014). International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health (2021) 94:391–407 proportion of employees receiving work disability benefits according to the Work and Income by Work Capacity Act (Berendsen 2017). This proportion increased from 5.3 to 8.2% over 4 years (2012–2016) within the 60 plus age group (Berendsen 2017). For older male and female employees aged 60–64 the amount of working hours per week is respectively 24.4 and 22.2 h/week (European Commission 2016). This may suggest that older employees might adjust their work hours to be able to continue labour participation (Damman et al 2013)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
