Working Factors and Employees' Mental Health in the Period of Economic Crisis

Abstract

Introduction: Workers all over the world experience, as never before, transformations in work organizational structures, processes and conditions that affect their mental health. Aim: The purpose of this study is to investigate the working factors and their effect on the mental health of the working population. Material and Method: A bibliographic review of research articles published in English, mainly over the last fifteen years, has been conducted. For this purpose, PubMed, ILO, Science Direct, Willey Online Library and Google Scholar electronic databases were used with key words: job / work and depression, job stress, job satisfaction, job insecurity, job strain, employment / work and mental health, work and economic crisis. Articles on the mental health of workers under the age of 18, elderly and pregnant women and those working in specialized professions such as firefighters, policemen, nurses, doctors, etc. or health care providers were excluded. Results: The review of studies has shown that people experiencing an effort-reward imbalance are more likely to have low working capacity. Occupational stress is remarkably associated with symptoms of depression or anxiety disorder, especially when workplace control decreases and work demands increase. On the contrary, conditions of low work requirements, high labor control and high social support lead to a better quality of life. Workers in precarious conditions are more likely to have higher levels of anxiety and depression and worse quality of life in general, while job insecurity has negative effects on the mental health of workers, which are not completely reversible. Conclusions: The impact of working factors on the mental health of individuals, is and will be of great concern to modern societies. Particularly societies with high levels of mental disorders are at risk of falling productivity, birth rates and people's satisfaction. Consequently, the need for state and private intervention, both at the level of prevention and in finding of antidotes, is obvious.