Psychological caring climate at work, mental health, well-being, and work-related outcomes: Evidence from a longitudinal study and health insurance data

Abstract

Psychological climate for caring (PCC) is a psychosocial factor associated with individual work outcomes and employee well-being. Evidence on the impacts of various psychological climates at work is based mostly on self-reported health measures and cross-sectional data. We provide longitudinal evidence on the associations of PCC with subsequent diagnosed depression and anxiety, subjective well-being, and self-reported work outcomes. Employees of a US organization with a worker well-being program provided data for the analysis. Longitudinal survey data merged with data from personnel files and health insurance claims records comprising medical information on diagnosis of depression and anxiety were used to regress each outcome on PCC at baseline, adjusting for prior values of all outcomes and other covariates. PCC was found to be associated with lower odds of subsequent diagnosed depression, an increase in overall well-being, mental health, physical health, social connectedness, and financial security, as well as a decrease in distraction at work, an increase in productivity/engagement and possibly in job satisfaction. There was little evidence of associations between PCC and subsequent diagnosed anxiety, character strengths, and work-family conflict. Work policies focused on improving PCC may create a promising pathway to promoting employee health and well-being as well as improving work-related outcomes.