Search resultsThe moderating effect of alcohol intake on the relationship between work strains and psychological distress
Title
The moderating effect of alcohol intake on the relationship between work strains and psychological distress
Publication type
Journal Article
Year of Publication
2003
Authors
Journal
Journal of Studies on Alcohol
Volume
64
Issue
3
Pagination
419 - 427
Date published
2003
ISBN
0096882X (ISSN)
Keywords
abstinence, Adolescent, Adult, age distribution, Aged, alcohol, alcohol consumption, Alcohol Drinking, article, authority, Canada, chemical injury, Chi-Square Distribution, Confidence Intervals, Cross-Sectional Studies, disease association, emotional stress, Female, gender, health care utilization, high risk population, human, Humans, Job Satisfaction, logistic regression analysis, major clinical study, male, mental health, occupational disease, Odds Ratio, physical stress, practice guideline, risk assessment, skill, Stress, Psychological, work schedule, workplace
Abstract
Objective: This study investigated the extent to which alcohol intake modified the associations between psychological distress and work strains. Method: The data were obtained from a sample of 10,387 employees nested in 422 occupations. Four types of alcohol drinkers were defined according to drinker status measured by alcohol intake over the last week: (1) abstainers, (2) drinkers who abstained from drinking in the last seven days, (3) low-risk drinkers (according to the Canadian guidelines), (4) high-risk drinkers. The Ilfeld scale was used to measure the level of psychological distress (referencing the last week). Work strains were measured according to Karasek's skills utilization, decision authority and psychological demands, as well as by regularity of work schedule, number of working hours per week, exposure to physical and chemical risks, job status and type of remuneration. Multilevel logistic regressions were conducted with adjustments for gender and age. Results: 6.1% of the logit variance of psychological distress was between occupations. Alcohol intake showed a U-shaped relationship with psychological distress, and it was a moderator of skills utilization and exposure to physical risks. Decision authority, psychological demands, work schedule, gender and age were linked to psychological distress. Conclusions: Moderate alcohol intake is not associated with psychological distress and does not intensify the effect of work strains. The results give some support to the positive effect of moderate alcohol consumption on stress reduction and mental health.