Precarious employment, psychosocial risk factors and poor mental health: A cross-sectional mediation analysis

Abstract

ObjectivesThis study analyzes the mediating effect of psychosocial risk factors at work (i.e. psychological demands, control and social support) (PRFs) in the relationship between precarious employment and mental health among formal salaried men and women from 22 European countries. MethodsCross-sectional data were derived from IV European Working Conditions Survey (n = 15,932–7,650 men, 8,282 women). Linear regression models and KHB decomposition analyses were applied to estimate the mediating effect and confounding percentages of PRFs. ResultsAmong men, the association between PE and poor mental health decreased after controlling for PRFs in both PE’s terciles, leaving a significant indirect effect (βtercile2 = 1.77, 95 %CI: 0.33–3.22; βEPREStercil3 = 3.06, 1.04–5.08) (partial mediation effect). Among women, a partial mediation effect was also found in tercile 3 (βEPREStercil3 = 3.31, 1.62–5.00), but a full mediation effect was found in tercile 2, since the direct effect was not significant. ConclusionsGender differences on the PRFs mediating effect were found, which suggest that women’s employment and working conditions are more heterogeneous than among men. These differences may be related to the difficulties of women to improve their working and employment conditions within labor markets and workplaces segregated by gender. Future studies should further delve into these gender inequalities in the relationship between precarious employment, PRFs and mental health, to improve OHS policies, especially from a macro-social perspective.