Top

International Journal of Behavioral Medicine

Published in:

01-10-2014

Associations Between Supportive Leadership and Employees Self-Rated Health in an Occupational Sample

Authors: Burkhard Schmidt, Adrian Loerbroks, Raphael M. Herr, Mark G. Wilson, Marc N. Jarczok, David Litaker, Daniel Mauss, Jos A. Bosch, Joachim E. Fischer

Published in: International Journal of Behavioral Medicine | Issue 5/2014

Abstract

Background

Protecting the health of the work force has become an important issue in public health research.

Purpose

This study aims to explore potential associations between supportive leadership style (SLS), an aspect of leadership behavior, and self-rated health (SRH) among employees.

Method

We drew on cross-sectional data from a cohort of industrial workers (n = 3,331), collected in 2009. We assessed employees' ratings of supportive, employee-oriented leadership behavior at their job, their SRH, and work stress as measured by the effort–reward model and scales measuring demands, control, and social support. Logistic regression estimated odds ratios (ORs) and corresponding 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between the perception of poor SLS and poor SRH controlling for work-related stress and other confounders. Sensitivity analyses stratified models by sex, age, and managerial position to test the robustness of associations.

Results

Perception of poor SLS was associated with poor SRH [OR 2.39 (95 % CI 1.95–2.92)]. Although attenuated following adjustment for measures of work-related stress and other confounders [OR 1.60 (95 % CI 1.26–2.04)], the magnitude, direction, and significance of this association remained robust in stratified models in most subgroups.

Conclusion

SLS appears to be relevant to health in the workplace. Leadership behavior may represent a promising area for future research with potential for promoting better health in a large segment of the adult population.

Available only for authorised users

Lurie N, Fremont A. Building bridges between medical care and public health. JAMA. 2009;302(1):84–6.PubMedCrossRefPubMedCentral

Cioffi JP, Lichtveld MY, Tilson H. A research agenda for public health workforce development. J Public Health Manag Pract. 2004;10(3):186–92.PubMedCrossRef

Cancelliere C, Cassidy JD, Ammendolia C, Côté P. Are workplace health promotion programs effective at improving presenteeism in workers? A systematic review and best evidence synthesis of the literature. BMC Publ Health. 2011;11(1):395.CrossRef

Chandola T, Britton A, Brunner E, Hemingway H, Malik M, Kumari M, et al. Work stress and coronary heart disease: what are the mechanisms? Eur Heart J. 2008;29(5):640–8.PubMedCrossRef

Eller NH, Netterstrøm B, Gyntelberg F, Kristensen TS, Nielsen F, Steptoe A, et al. Work-related psychosocial factors and the development of ischemic heart disease: a systematic review. Cardiol Rev. 2009;17(2):83–97.PubMedCrossRef

Steptoe A, Kivimaki M. Stress and cardiovascular disease. Nat Rev Cardiol. 2012;9(6):360–70.PubMedCrossRef

Kivimäki M, Virtanen M, Elovainio M, Kouvonen A, Väänänen A, Vahtera J. Work stress in the etiology of coronary heart disease—a meta-analysis. Scand J Work Environ Health. 2006;32(6):431–42.PubMedCrossRef

Stansfeld S, Candy B. Psychosocial work environment and mental health—a meta-analytic review. Scand J Work Environ Health. 2006;32(6):443–62.PubMedCrossRef

Bonde JPE. Psychosocial factors at work and risk of depression: a systematic review of the epidemiological evidence. Occup Environ Med. 2008;65(7):438–45.PubMedCrossRef

10.

Netterstrøm B, Conrad N, Bech P, Fink P, Olsen O, Rugulies R, et al. The relation between work-related psychosocial factors and the development of depression. Epidemiol Rev. 2008;30(4):118–32.PubMedCrossRef

11.

Wilson MG, Dejoy DM, Vandenberg RJ, Richardson HA, McGrath AL. Work characteristics and employee health and well-being: test of a model of healthy work organization. J Occup Organ Psychol. 2004;77(4):565–88.CrossRef

12.

Tuckey MR, Bakker AB, Dollard MF. Empowering leaders optimize working conditions for engagement: a multilevel study. J Occup Health Psychol. 2012;17(1):15–27.PubMedCrossRef

13.

Nyberg A, Alfredsson L, Theorell T, Westerlund H, Vahtera J, Kivimäki M. Managerial leadership and ischaemic heart disease among employees: the Swedish WOLF study. Occup Environ Med. 2009;66(1):51–5.PubMedCrossRefPubMedCentral

14.

Westerlund H, Nyberg A, Bernin P, Hyde M, Oxenstierna G, Jäppinen P, et al. Managerial leadership is associated with employee stress, health, and sickness absence independently of the demand-control-support model. Work. 2010;37(1):71–9.PubMed

15.

Benyamini Y. Why does self-rated health predict mortality? An update on current knowledge and a research agenda for psychologists. Psychol Health. 2011;26(11):1407–13.PubMedCrossRef

16.

Benyamini Y, Gerber Y, Molshatzki N, Goldbourt U, Drory Y. Recovery of self-rated health as a predictor of recurrent ischemic events after first myocardial infarction: a 13-year follow-up. Health Psychol. 2013. doi:10.1037/a0031371.PubMed

17.

Nielsen K, Randall R, Yarker J, Brenner SO. The effects of transformational leadership on followers' perceived work characteristics and psychological well-being: a longitudinal study. Work Stress. 2008;22(1):16–32.CrossRef

18.

Van Dierendonck D, Haynes C, Borrill C, Stride C. Leadership behavior and subordinate well-being. J Occup Health Psychol. 2004;9(2):165–75.PubMedCrossRef

19.

Kuoppala J, Lamminpää A, Liira J, Vainio H. Leadership, job well-being, and health effects—a systematic review and a meta-analysis. J Occup Environ Med. 2008;50(8):904–15.PubMedCrossRef

20.

Leka S, Jain A. Health impact of psychosocial hazards at work: an overview. Geneva: WHO; 2010.

21.

Bass BM. Two decades of research and development in transformational leadership. Eur J Work Organ Psychol. 1999;8(1):9–32.CrossRef

22.

Kivimäki M, Ferrie JE, Head J, Shipley MJ, Vahtera J, Marmot MG. Organisational justice and change in justice as predictors of employee health: the Whitehall II study. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2004;58(11):931–7.PubMedCrossRefPubMedCentral

23.

Herr RM, Li J, Bosch JA, Schmidt B, Dejoy DM, Fischer JE, et al. Psychometric properties of a German organizational justice questionnaire (G-OJQ) and its association with self-rated health: findings from the Mannheim Industrial Cohort Studies (MICS). Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 2012. doi:10.1007/s00420-012-0839-4.PubMed

24.

Stößel U, Michaelis M, Hofmann F. Measuring psychological stress and strain at work: evaluation of the COPSOQ questionnaire in Germany Methoden zur Erfassung Psychischer Belastungen. GMS Psychosoc Med. 2006;3:1–14.

25.

Mossey JM, Shapiro E. Self-rated health: a predictor of mortality among the elderly. Am J Public Health. 1982;72(8):800–8.PubMedCrossRefPubMedCentral

26.

Li J, Loerbroks A, Jarczok MN, Schöllgen I, Bosch JA, Mauss D, et al. Psychometric properties and differential explanation of a short measure of effort–reward imbalance at work: a study of industrial workers in Germany. Am J Ind Med. 2012;55:808–15.PubMedCrossRef

27.

Gadinger MC, Loerbroks A, Schneider S, Thayer JF, Fischer JE. Associations between job strain and the cortisol/DHEA-S ratio among management and nonmanagement personnel. Psychosom Med. 2011;73(1):44–52.PubMedCrossRef

28.

Siegrist J. Adverse effects of high effort—low reward conditions at work. J Occup Heal Psychol. 1996;1:27–43.CrossRef

29.

Kuper H, Singh-Manoux A, Siegrist J, Marmot M. When reciprocity fails: effort-reward imbalance in relation to coronary heart disease and health functioning within the Whitehall II study. Occup Environ Med. 2002;59(11):777–84.PubMedCrossRefPubMedCentral

30.

Gadinger MC, Schilling O, Litaker D, Fischer JE. The Work-Health-Check (WHC): a brief new tool for assessing psychosocial stress in the workplace. Work. 2012;43(3):345–60.PubMed

31.

Karasek R, Amick B. The Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ): an instrument for internationally comparative assessments of psychosocial job characteristics. 1998;3(4):322–55.

32.

Karasek RD, Theorell T. Healthy work. New York: Perseus; 1990.

33.

Loerbroks A, Schilling O, Haxsen V, Jarczok MN, Thayer JF, Fischer JE. The fruits of ones labor: effort-reward imbalance but not job strain is related to heart rate variability across the day in 35-44-year-old workers. J Psychosom Res. 2010;69(2):151–9.PubMedCrossRef

34.

Kivimäki M, Nyberg S, Batty G, et al. Job strain as a risk factor for coronary heart disease: a collaborative meta-analysis of individual participant data. Lancet. 2012;6736(12):1–7.

35.

Eaker ED. Does job strain increase the risk for coronary heart disease or death in men and women?: the Framingham Offspring Study. Am J Epidemiol. 2004;159(10):950–8.PubMedCrossRef

36.

Sherman GD, Lee JJ, Cuddy AJC, Renshon J, Oveis C, Gross JJ, et al. Leadership is associated with lower levels of stress. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012;109(44):17903–7.PubMedCrossRefPubMedCentral

37.

Kivimäki M, Theorell T, Westerlund H, Vahtera J, Alfredsson L. Job strain and ischaemic disease: does the inclusion of older employees in the cohort dilute the association? The WOLF Stockholm Study. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2008;62(4):372–4.PubMedCrossRef

38.

Rosengren A, Hawken S, Ounpuu S, Sliwa K, Zubaid M, Almahmeed WA, et al. Association of psychosocial risk factors with risk of acute myocardial infarction in 11119 cases and 13648 controls from 52 countries (the INTERHEART study): case–control study. Lancet. 2004;364(9438):953–62.PubMedCrossRef

39.

Scott BA, Colquitt JA, Paddock EL, Judge TA. A daily investigation of the role of manager empathy on employee well-being. Organ Behav Hum Decis Process. 2010;113:127–40.CrossRef

40.

Piccolo RF, Bono JE, Heinitz K, Rowold J, Duehr E, Judge TA. The relative impact of complementary leader behaviors: which matter most? Leadersh Q. 2012;23(3):567–81.CrossRef

41.

Thayer JF, Yamamoto SS, Brosschot JF. The relationship of autonomic imbalance, heart rate variability and cardiovascular disease risk factors. Int J Cardiol. 2010;141(2):122–31.PubMedCrossRef

42.

Theorell T, Nyberg A, Leineweber C, Magnusson Hanson LL, Oxenstierna G, Westerlund H. Non-listening and self centered leadership—relationships to socioeconomic conditions and employee mental health. PLoS One. 2012;7(9):e44119.PubMedCrossRefPubMedCentral

43.

Nyberg A, Holmberg I, Bernin P, Alderling M, Åkerblom S, Widerszal-Bazyl M, et al. Destructive managerial leadership and psychological well-being among employees in Swedish, Polish, and Italian hotels. Work. 2011;39(3):267–81.PubMed

Title: Associations Between Supportive Leadership and Employees Self-Rated Health in an Occupational Sample
Authors: Burkhard Schmidt
Adrian Loerbroks
Raphael M. Herr
Mark G. Wilson
Marc N. Jarczok
David Litaker
Daniel Mauss
Jos A. Bosch
Joachim E. Fischer
Publication date: 01-10-2014
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: International Journal of Behavioral Medicine / Issue 5/2014
Print ISSN: 1070-5503
Electronic ISSN: 1532-7558
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-013-9345-7

At a glance: The STEP trials

Springer Medicine

Associations Between Supportive Leadership and Employees Self-Rated Health in an Occupational Sample

Abstract

Background

Purpose

Method

Results

Conclusion

At a glance: The STEP trials

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Background

Purpose

Method

Results

Conclusion

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 5/2014

Gender-Specific Associations of Perceived Stress and Coping Strategies with C-Reactive Protein in Middle-Aged and Older Men and Women

In Vivo β-Adrenergic Receptor Responsiveness: Ethnic Differences in the Relationship with Symptoms of Depression and Fatigue

Predictors of Health Behavior Change After an Integrative Medicine Inpatient Program

Somatic Symptoms and Holistic Thinking as Major Dimensions Behind Modern Health Worries

Influence of Municipal- and Individual-level Socioeconomic Conditions on Mortality in Japan

Viral Suppression and Antiretroviral Medication Adherence Among Alcohol Using HIV-Positive Adults