Abstract
We examined whether the association between emotionally demanding work and risk of register-based long-term sickness absence (LTSA, ≥6 weeks) was buffered by high leadership quality among 25 416 Danish employees during 52-week follow-up. Emotional demands were measured at the job group level, whereas leadership quality was measured by workers rating their closest manager. Emotionally demanding work was associated with a higher risk of LTSA, regardless if leadership quality was high or low, with neither multiplicative nor additive interaction. We conclude that we found no evidence for high leadership quality buffering the effect of emotionally demanding work on risk of LTSA.
Highlights
Demanding work requires sustained emotional effort by the worker, for example dealing with sorrows or aggressions by clients, patients or customers.[1]
Considering the consistent association between emotional demands and long-term sickness absence (LTSA) in the literature[2,3,4] and considering that high emotional demands are a part of work in numerous occupations, for example, health care and teaching,[4] we aimed to examine whether other, more modifiable, work environment factors could act as buffers
High emotionally demanding work predicted risk of LTSA regardless if leadership quality was high (OR: 1.39, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.11– 1.73) or low (OR: 1.39, 95% CI: 1.15–1.68)
Summary
Demanding work requires sustained emotional effort by the worker, for example dealing with sorrows or aggressions by clients, patients or customers.[1]. We recently reported prospective associations between emotionally demanding work and LTSA in the Work Environment and Health in Denmark (WEHD) study.[4] Working in an emotionally demanding job predicted risk of LTSA with a hazard ratio of 1.32 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.14–1.52].4. We chose leadership quality, reasoning that workers may be able to cope with emotional demands if their managers are competent, caring and supportive.[5] Previous studies reported inconsistent associations between leadership quality and LTSA;[6] a recent analysis of WEHD data showed that high leadership quality predicted a reduced risk of LTSA.[6] To our knowledge, no study has examined yet whether leadership quality can buffer the effect of emotionally demanding work on risk of LTSA
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