Rank, job stress, psychological distress and physical activity among military personnel

BMC Public Health

Claudia S Lopes¹  Lilian Cristina X Martins² 

[1] Department of Epidemiology, Institute of Social Medicine, Rio de Janeiro State University (IMS/UERJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil;Postgraduate Department/Brazilian Army School of Physical Education (EsEFEx), Escola de Educação Física do Exército-Seção de Pós-Graduação, Av. João Luíz Alves, S/Nr Urca, Rio de Janeiro, RJ CEP 22291-090, Brazil

关键词: Military personnel;    Common mental disorders;    Job stress;    Mental health;    Physical activity;   

Others  :  1161966
DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2458-13-716

 received in 2012-06-04, accepted in 2013-07-31,  发布年份 2013

【 摘 要 】

Background

Physical fitness is one of the most important qualities in armed forces personnel. However, little is known about the association between the military environment and the occupational and leisure-time dimensions of the physical activity practiced there. This study assessed the association of rank, job stress and psychological distress with physical activity levels (overall and by dimensions).

Methods

This a cross-sectional study among 506 military service personnel of the Brazilian Army examined the association of rank, job stress and psychological distress with physical activity through multiple linear regression using a generalized linear model.

Results

The adjusted models showed that the rank of lieutenant was associated with most occupational physical activity (β = 0.324; CI 95% 0.167; 0.481); “high effort and low reward” was associated with more occupational physical activity (β = 0.224; CI 95% 0.098; 0.351) and with less physical activity in sports/physical exercise in leisure (β = −0.198; CI 95% −0.384; −0.011); and psychological distress was associated with less physical activity in sports/exercise in leisure (β = −0.184; CI 95% −0.321; −0.046).

Conclusions

The results of this study show that job stress and rank were associated with higher levels of occupational physical activity. Moreover job stress and psychological distress were associated with lower levels of physical activity in sports/exercises. In the military context, given the importance of physical activity and the psychosocial environment, both of which are related to health, these findings may offer input to institutional policies directed to identifying psychological distress early and improving work relationships, and to creating an environment more favorable to increasing the practice of leisure-time physical activity.

【 授权许可】

   
2013 Martins and Lopes; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 参考文献 】

• [1]Harvey SB, Hotopf M, Overland S, Mykletun A: Physical activity and common mental disorders 10.1192/bjp.bp.109.075176. Br J Psychiatry 2010, 197:357-364.
• [2]Knuth AG, Bacchieri G, Victora CG, Hallal PC: Changes in physical activity among Brazilian adults over a 5-year period. J Epidemiol Community Health 2010, 64:591-595.
• [3]Lindstrom M, Hanson BS, Ostergren PO: Socioeconomic differences in leisure-time physical activity: the role of social participation and social capital in shaping health related behaviour. Soc Sci Med 2001, 52:441-451.
• [4]Zanchetta LM, Barros MB DA, César CLG, Carandina L, Goldbaum M, Alves MCGP: Inatividade física e fatores associados em adultos, São Paulo, Brasil. Rev Bras Epidemiol 2010, 13:387-399.
• [5]Wemme KM, Rosvall M: Work related and non-work related stress in relation to low leisure time physical activity in a Swedish population. J Epidemiol Community Heal 2005, 59:377-379.
• [6]Lopes CS, Araya R, Werneck GL, Chor D, Faerstein E: Job strain and other work conditions: relationships with psychological distress among civil servants in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 2010, 45:345-354.
• [7]Erikssen G: Physical fitness and changes in mortality: the survival of the fittest. Sports Med 2001, 31:571-576.
• [8]Warburton DE, Nicol CW, Bredin SS: Health benefits of physical activity: the evidence. Can Med Assoc J 2006, 174:801-809.
• [9]Penedo F, Dahn J: Exercise and well-being: a review of mental and physical health benefits associated with physical activity. Curr Opin Psychiatry 2005, 18:189-193.
• [10]Sinyor D, Schwartz SG, Peronnet F, Brisson G, Seraganian P: Aerobic fitness level and reactivity to psychosocial stress: physiological, biochemical, and subjective measures. Psychosom Med 1983, 45:205-217.
• [11]Rimmele U, Zellweger BC, Marti B, Seiler R, Mohiyeddini C, Ehlert U, Heinrichs M: Trained men show lower cortisol, heart rate and psychological responses to psychosocial stress compared with untrained men. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2007, 32:627-635.
• [12]de Mello Filho J, Burd M: Psicossomática Hoje. 2nd edition. Porto Alegre, RS: Artmed; 2010.
• [13]Bosma H, Peter R, Siegrist J, Marmot M: Two alternative job stress models and the risk of coronary heart disease. Am J Public Heal 1998, 88:68-74.
• [14]Hellerstedt WL, Jeffery RW: The association of job strain and health behaviours in men and women. Int J Epidemiol 1997, 26:575-583.
• [15]Kouvonen A, Kivimaki M, Elovainio M, Virtanen M, Linna A, Vahtera J: Job strain and leisure-time physical activity in female and male public sector employees. Prev Med 2005, 41:532-539.
• [16]Lee MS, Lee MB, Liao SC, Chiang FT: Relationship between mental health and job satisfaction among employees in a medical center department of laboratory medicine. J Formos Med Assoc 2009, 108:146-154.
• [17]Holtermann A, Marott JL, Gyntelberg F, Søgaard K, Suadicani P, Mortensen OS, Prescott E, Schnohr P: Does the benefit on survival from leisure time physical activity depend on physical activity at work? A prospective cohort study. PloS One 2013, 8:e54548.
• [18]Hu G-C, Chien K-L, Hsieh S-F, Chen C-Y, Tsai W-H, Su T-C: Occupational versus leisure-time physical activity in reducing cardiovascular risks and mortality among ethnic Chinese adults in Taiwan. Asia Pac J Public Health 2013. [Epub ahead of print]
• [19]Peluso MA, de Andrade LH G: Physical activity and mental health: the association between exercise and mood. Clinics 2005, 60:61-70.
• [20]Steptoe A, Wardle J, Marmot M: Positive affect and health-related neuroendocrine, cardiovascular, and inflammatory processes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S 2005, 102:6508-6512.
• [21]Chopra P: Mental health and the workplace: issues for developing countries. Int J Ment Heal Syst 2009, 3:4.
• [22]Adamoli AN, Azevedo MR: Padrões de atividade física de pessoas com transtornos mentais e de comportamento. Ciência Saúde Coletiva 2009, 14:243-251.
• [23]Wijndaelea K, Mattonb L, Duvigneaudc N, Lefevreb J, De Bourdeaudhuija I, Duquetc W, Thomisb M, Philippaerts RM: Association between leisure time physical activity and stress, social support and coping: a cluster-analytical approach. Psychol Sport Exerc 2007, 8:425-440.
• [24]Bertheussen GF, Romundstad PR, Landmark T, Kaasa S, Dale O, Helbostad JL: Associations between physical activity and physical and mental health–a HUNT 3 study. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2011, 43:1220-1228.
• [25]Rothon C, Edwards P, Bhui K, Viner RM, Taylor S, Stansfeld SA: Physical activity and depressive symptoms in adolescents: a prospective study. BMC Med 2010, 8:32.
• [26]Wolff E, Gaudlitz K, Von Lindenberger B-L, Plag J, Heinz A, Ströhle A: Exercise and physical activity in mental disorders. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 2011, 261(Suppl 2):S186-S191.
• [27]Ruo B, Rumsfeld JS, Pipkin S, Whooley MA: Relation between depressive symptoms and treadmill exercise capacity in the heart and soul study. Am J Cardiol 2004, 94:96-99.
• [28]Scott D, Happell B: The high prevalence of poor physical health and unhealthy lifestyle behaviours in individuals with severe mental illness. Issues Ment Heal Nurs 2011, 32:589-597.
• [29]Muhsen K, Garty-Sandalon N, Gross R, Green MS: Psychological distress is independently associated with physical inactivity in Israeli adults. Prev Med 2010, 50:118-122.
• [30]Fear NT, Rubin GJ, Hatch S, Hull L, Jones M, Hotopf M, Wessely S, Rona RJ: Job strain, rank, and mental health in the UK armed forces. Int J Occup Env Heal 2009, 15:291-298.
• [31]Kyrolainen H, Hakkinen K, Kautiainen H, Santtila M, Pihlainen K, Hakkinen A: Physical fitness, BMI and sickness absence in male military personnel 10.1093/occmed/kqn010. Occup Med Lond 2008, 58:251-256.
• [32]Cuddy JS, Slivka DR, Hailes WS, Ruby BC: Factors of trainability and predictability associated with military physical fitness test success. J Strength Cond Res Natl Strength Cond Assoc 2011, 25:3486-3494.
• [33]Gubata ME, Cowan DN, Bedno SA, Urban N, Niebuhr DW: Self-reported physical activity and preaccession fitness testing in U.S. army applicants. Mil Med 2011, 176:922-925.
• [34]Mullie P, Godderis L, Clarys P: Determinants and nutritional implications associated with low-fat food consumption. Appetite 2012, 58:34-38.
• [35]Naghii MR, Aref MA, Almadadi M, Hedayati M: Effect of regular physical activity on non-lipid (novel) cardiovascular risk factors. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2011, 24:380-390.
• [36]Vaara JP, Kyröläinen H, Niemi J, Ohrankämmen O, Häkkinen A, Kocay S, Häkkinen K: Associations of maximal strength and muscular endurance test scores with cardiorespiratory fitness and body composition. J Strength Cond Res Natl Strength Cond Assoc 2012, 26:2078-2086.
• [37]Baecke JA, Burema J, Frijters JE: A short questionnaire for the measurement of habitual physical activity in epidemiological studies. Am J Clin Nutr 1982, 36:936-942.
• [38]Florindo AA, Latorre MDRDDO: Validation and reliability of the Baecke questionnaire for the evaluation of habitual physical activity in adult men. Rev Bras Med Esporte 2003, 9:129-135.
• [39]Florindo AA, Latorre MDRDDO, Jaime PC, Tanaka T, Zerbini CA DF: Metodologia para a avaliação da atividade física habitual em homens com 50 anos ou mais. Rev Saúde Pública 2004, 38:307-314.
• [40]Siegrist J: Adverse health effects of high-effort/low-reward conditions. J Occup Heal Psychol 1996, 1:27-41.
• [41]Chor D, Werneck GL, Faerstein E, Alves MG, Rotenberg L: The Brazilian version of the effort-reward imbalance questionnaire to assess job stress. Cad Saude Publica 2008, 24:219-224.
• [42]Martins LCX, Lopes CS: Military hierarchy, job stress and mental health in peacetime. Occup Med. 2012, 62:182-187.
• [43]De Jonge J, Bosma H, Peter R, Siegrist J: Job strain, effort-reward imbalance and employee well-being: a large-scale cross-sectional study. Soc Sci Med 2000, 50:1317-1327.
• [44]Van Vegchel N, de Jonge J, Bosma H, Schaufeli W: Reviewing the effort-reward imbalance model: drawing up the balance of 45 empirical studies. Soc Sci Med 2005, 60:1117-1131.
• [45]Mari JJ, Williams P: A comparison of the validity of two psychiatric screening questionnaires (GHQ-12 and SRQ-20) in Brazil, using relative operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Psychol Med 1985, 15:651-659.
• [46]Goldberg D, Williams P: A user’s guide to the General Health Questionnaire. NFER -. Windsor: Nelson Publisshing; 1988.
• [47]R Development Core Team R: A language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna, Austria: R Foundation for Statistical Computing; 2009.
• [48]Kim K, Shin YJ, Nam JH, Choi BY, Kim MK: A dose–response relationship between types of physical activity and distress. J Korean Med Sci 2008, 23:218-225.
• [49]Rod NH, Gronbaek M, Schnohr P, Prescott E, Kristensen TS: Perceived stress as a risk factor for changes in health behaviour and cardiac risk profile: a longitudinal study. J Intern Med 2009, 266:467-475.
• [50]Mäkinen T, Kestilä L, Borodulin K, Martelin T, Rahkonen O, Leino-Arjas P, Prättälä R: Occupational class differences in leisure-time physical inactivity–contribution of past and current physical workload and other working conditions. Scand J Work Environ Health 2010, 36:62-70.
• [51]Ali SM, Lindstrom M: Psychosocial work conditions, unemployment, and leisure-time physical activity: a population-based study. Scand J Public Heal. 2006, 34:209-216.
• [52]Caspersen CJ, Powell KE, Christenson GM: Physical activity, exercise, and physical fitness: definitions and distinctions for health-related research. Public Heal Rep 1985, 100:126-131.
• [53]Gimeno D, Elovainio M, Jokela M, De Vogli R, Marmot MG, Kivimäki M: Association between passive jobs and low levels of leisure-time physical activity: the Whitehall II cohort study 10.1136/oem.2008.045104. Occup Environ Med 2009, 66:772-776.
• [54]Jones M, O’Beney C: Promoting mental health through physical activity: examples from pratice. J Ment Heal Promot 2004, 3:39-47.
• [55]Brasil: Decreto No. 5.170. Brasília, DF: Presidência da República; 2004.
• [56]Hansen AM, Blangsted AK, Hansen EA, Sogaard K, Sjogaard G: Physical activity, job demand-control, perceived stress-energy, and salivary cortisol in white-collar workers. Int Arch Occup Env Heal 2010, 83:143-153.
• [57]Kittel F, Kornitzer M, De Backer G, Dramaix M, Sobolski J, Degre S, Denolin H: Type A in relation to job-stress, social and bioclinical variables: the Belgian physical fitness study. J Hum Stress 1983, 9:37-45.