Mental health status and work environment among workers in small- and medium-sized enterprises in Guangdong, China-a cross-sectional survey

BMC Public Health

Li Ling²  Wen Chen²  Lu Han²  Liming Lu²  Yan Guo²  Zhi Zeng¹ 

[1] Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Hunan Province, Changsha 410008, China;Sun Yat-sen Center for Migrant Health Policy, School of Public Health, SunYat-sen University, Guangzhou 510405, China

关键词: Job demand-control-support (JDCS) model;    Job demand-control (JDC) model;    Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs);    WHO (five) well-being index;    Psychological well-being;    Mental health;    Chinese workers;   

Others  :  1122984
DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2458-14-1162

 received in 2014-05-08, accepted in 2014-10-17,  发布年份 2014

【 摘 要 】

Background

Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) generate nearly 80% of the jobs in China, but the dangerous work environment often found in these enterprises poses a major concern for public health. Psychosocial pressure and mental health problems among the workers are also common in SMEs. However, mental health of workers in SMEs is largely neglected in occupational health research and practice in China. The purpose of this study is to assess mental health of the workers and to explore the associations between physical and psychosocial work environment and workers’ mental health in SMEs in South China.

Methods

Data were collected in 2012 through a cross-sectional survey among 1200 workers working in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Guangdong, China. Mental health was measured by psychological well-being in the current study. Job Demand-Control-Support (JDCS) model was used as a theoretical framework to examine the psychosocial factors associated with workers’ psychological well-being. Data were analyzed using SPSS 20.0 and analysis was performed using bivariate analyses and multivariate logistic regression.

Results

About three in ten workers (35.3%) in the sample had poor psychological well-being. Those who were men, younger in age, or migrant workers had worse psychological outcome in bivariate analyses. After controlling for individual variables (gender, age, marital status, and household registration), we found that longer weekly work hours (OR = 1.30, 95% CI: 1.13 ~ 1.50), more exposure to hazardous work environment (OR = 1.26, 95% CI: 1.10 ~ 1.44), higher job demands (OR = 1.29, 95% CI: 1.12 ~ 1.49), and lower job autonomy (OR = 0.70, 95% CI: 0.60 ~ 0.81) were significant associated with worse psychological well-being. The results were consistent with predictions of the JDCS model.

Conclusions

The results indicate that the JDCS model is a useful framework in predicting psychological well-being among Chinese workers in SMEs. Future mental health promotion should focus on young migrant male workers as they appear to be most vulnerable in their psychological well-being. Both physical and psychosocial aspects of the work environment should be taken into account in policy making to prevent mental disorder and promote psychological well-being among workers in SMEs.

【 授权许可】

   
2014 Zeng et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

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