20120903084527Employment Conditions and Psychosocial Risk in Salaried Workers in Chile. a Gender...

7/25/2019 20120903084527Employment Conditions and Psychosocial Risk in Salaried Workers in Chile. a Gender Perspective

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Employment conditions and psychosocial risks in salariedwork in Chile: social and gender inequalities

Araucaria Survey

Preliminary Results

Centro de Estudios de la MujerProyecto Araucaria

Santiago enero !"#!



“Employment conditions and psychosocial risks in salariedwork in Chile: social and gender inequalities”

$n Chile as in many other countries mental health pro%lemsrepresent one o& the principal causes o& mor%idity in the population

'PA() !""#*+ ,ork is a source o& health %ut can also %e a source o&illness+ Mental health pro%lems in workers are increasing and thisphenomenon can %e related to working conditions employmentconditions and the inter&ace %etween jo% requirements and workers-responsi%ilities to their &amily and community+

.he promotion o& greater /e0i%ility in the work&orce has led to new&orms o& e0cessive wear and tear on workers %oth %ecause o& theintensi1cation o& work '2ollac 3 4olko5 #667* the e0tension anddistri%ution o& working time the erosion o& the distinction %etweenwork and personal li&e '8u0%ury 3 (iggins !""9 ;ristensen !""7*and the <coloni=ation> o& &ree time with work?related tasks '@ae=!""9 8Ba= !""9*+ .his creates a work li&e practically without limitstranslating into a deterioration o& well?%eing and quality o& li&e aspeople are su%jected to increasing levels o& stress and psychologicalpressure in the workplace.

Some processes %y which work can undermine mental health o&workers a5ect women and men di5erently 'Messing et al !""Messing 3 Stellman !""7*+ $n Chile as in other countries theincorporation o& women into paid la%our has not %een accompanied%y a reduction in their unpaid work as mothers psychological support

providers and caregivers &or the sick and the elderly+ .his has createdparticular risks o& work overload &or women and we hypothesi=e thatthis contri%utes to the deterioration o& their mental and physicalhealth

Dor those reasons this program conducted a survey to identi&yoccupational &actors that a5ect mental health particularly in light o& new &orms o& work organi=ation taking into account the di5erentialand unequal gender division o& work %oth paid and unpaid

.he survey was applied %etween March and une !"##+ $t was

designed to respond to the &ollowing speci1c o%jectives:

• .o characteri=e employment conditions and psychosocial riskso& salaried workers in Chile considering social and genderinequalities

• .o analy=e the relationship %etween the quality o& employmentand psychosocial risk &actors according to gender

• .o analy=e unpaid domestic and care?giver work as apsychosocial risk &actor

• .o discover the associations %etween psychosocial risks and

some indicators o& mental health according to gender



I. METH!"#$ %&&"IE!

#+ .he samplea+ Sample si=e

.he sample was composed o& "#" cases #9F7 &emale and #G!9male salaried workers !" to 7G years o& age &rom all socioeconomiclevels+ .he participants were &rom ur%an =ones in the 1&teen regionso& the country+ Mem%ers o& the armed &orces and law en&orcementoHcers were e0cluded as were domestic servants unpaid &amilyemployees and the sel&?employed 'availa%le upon request*+

,omen who represent 9+7I o& the la%our market were over?represented in the sample 'G"+7I men and 96+9I women* owing tointerest in o%taining a gender analysis and equivalent samples o& thetwo se0es+

.he analysis was weighted %y se0 according to the respectiveparticipation o& women and men in the la%our market+

%+ Sample design

.he study was %ased on a pro%a%ilistic sample o& homes that was

de1ned in &our levels &or each region: municipalities %locks homesand surveyed persons+ .he sampling errors were estimated &or acon1dence level o& 6GI with ma0imum variance under theassumption o& a simple random sample with dichotomous questions+

!+ .he in&ormation collection instrument was a survey with JJclosed?ended questions+

a. .he issues addressed %y the survey were:

• Sociodemographic data K se0 and age o& the respondentsnum%er and age o& children marital status education

level monthly &amily income perception o& economichardship and socioeconomic level+

• Participation in the la%our market: area o& economicactivity occupation si=e o& the enterprise or institution'employer*+

• Conditions o& employment: e0istence o& a contract typeo& contract duration o& contract su%contractingemployment sta%ility monthly personal income levelworking week social security and health and employmentinsurance union aHliation+

• Psychosocial dimensions o& work: ;arasek and .heorell-sdemandLcontrolLsocial support model '#66"* Siegrist-s



e5ortsLreward im%alance model ER$ test '#667 !""6*dimensions to inquire a%out physical and ver%al violencepsychological and se0ual harassment domestic and care?giving workload and work?&amily inter&erence+

• $ndicators o& mental health: sel&?perception o& general

health depression an0iety and stress consumption o&psychotropic drugs alcohol consumption+

'. Pro%lem encountered:$n applying the survey we encountered a pro%lem that the Centro deEstudios de la Mujer has not had in previous surveys a%outemployment and that we &ound no record o& in other similar studies inChile+ .he pro%lem was a rate o& re&usal to participate that reached9I among the possi%le participants+ .his was a surprisingly highrate o& re&usal given that the rate in Chile &or similar studies has %eenaround #"I as in the case o& the health surveys conducted %y theMinistry o& (ealth in !"" and !""6?!"#"+

.he individuals who re&used to participate were replaced %y a randomprocess that did not alter the pre?esta%lished sampling criteria+

According to the report %y the consultant contracted &or the 1eldworkthe high re&usal rate was the result o& asking respondents to give theirnames and to sign letters o& in&ormed consent+ .his provoked a loss o& con1dence since signing automatically annulled the anonymity thatwas guaranteed in the very same letter+ .his pro%lem leads to two

re/ections the 1rst %eing that the persons who re&used to participateare the most &ear&ul o& %eing identi1ed which raises the question o&why+ $t also leads us to re/ect on the requirements imposed %yresearch ethics committees &rom countries with political economicand employment conditions unlike those o& the countries where thesurvey is to %e applied+ $t is pro%a%le that the &ear that a signi1cantpercentage o& Chileans &eel a%out reprisal &or their statements a%outemployment conditions and their employers would not %e shared %ycounterparts in Canada or other developed countries+

$n hindsight we would do the ethics application di5erently and not

require written consent &rom participants as we &eel this did notprovide any greater protection to the participants %ut rather madesome o& them decline to participate %ecause o& a perceived increasedvulnera%ility attri%uta%le to the written consent requirement+

II. (CI!EM#)%&HIC %*! EM&"$ME*TCH%)%CTE)I+%TI* , THE (%M&"E

#+ Age: .he sample was 96I women and G#I men %etween !" and

7G years o& age '!I %etween !" and !6 !6I %etween " and 6!JI %etween 9" and 96 and !#I G" years o& age and over*+



!+ Socioeconomic status:a+ .hirty?seven per cent o& the samples live without a li&e

partner '96I women "I men*+%+ .wenty eight I o& the men and !!I o& the women %elong

to the poorest socioeconomic group 96I o& the men andG#I o& the women %elong to the middle socioeconomicgroup and #7+7I o& the men and #6 I o& the women%elong to the upper?middle socioeconomic group+ SomeJI o& the sample is part o& the high economic group withthe highest income level 'JI o& the men and J+6I o& thewomen*+

c+ .hirty?one percent estimates that &amily income isinsuHcient to cover needs and perceives some or majordiHculties 'GI o& the women !6I o& the men*

+ Monthly personal income: .he in&ormation a%out monthly personalincome reveals that women receive lower income than men which isconsistent with government sources+ Dorty?&our percent o& womenrespondents have the lowest monthly personal income: !G""""pesos or less !"I earns %etween !G"""# and G"""" pesos+ .hatmeans that 7"I o& women have very low income+ !G I o& malerespondents earn !G"""" pesos or less !!I earn %etween !G"""#and G"""" pesos+

9+ Nevel o& education: .he 1gures indicate that women in the la%our

market have higher levels o& education than men which has also%een documented %y numerous other studies and %y statistics



provided %y government sources+ Some #9I o& men and 6I o&women have %asic level education 'F years o& schooling* JI o& menand !I o& women completed high school '#! years o& schooling*"I o& women and !GI o& men have vocational education '#9 or #Gyears o& education* and only !!I o& respondents has university level

education which %roke down as !9I o& women and !#I o& men+

G+ 8istri%ution o& men and women %y economic area o& their workMost o& the women respondents work in the pro&essional K health andeducation ? and 1nancial services and trade sectors 'I !7I and!7I respectively*+ Men work in the construction and transportationsectors '#JI FI* ##I work in manu&acturing 'FI o& the women*

7+ 8istri%ution o& men and women %y occupation

.here are important di5erences in the occupations o& women andmen+ ,omen are concentrated in non?production occupations suchas <oHce workers> and <service workers>+ Men are concentrated intrades related to production such as <operators and machineoperators> and there is a lower percentage o& men than women inoccupations such as <oHce workers> and <service workers>+ .herewere twice as many men as women in management positions whilethere were more women than men among pro&essionals+ .heoccupational distri%ution o& the sample coincides with the distri%utiono& the la%our &orce at the national level according to the Oational$nstitute o& Statistics o& Chile '$OE*+

a* Agriculture hunting1shing

%* Mining quarriesc* Manu&acturing

d* Constructione* Commerce&* Dinancial Servicesg* Pro&essional Servicesh* .ransportation



-. &)E"IMI*%)$ )E("T(

#+ Part one: Employment conditions

a* 2eneral tendencies: social and gender inequalities

A general e0amination o& the employment conditions o& men andwomen employees in Chile suggests a high level o& compliance withla%our standards+ .here is a high proportion o& workers with a signedcontract '6"I* with inde1nite contract 'F"I* with social security'6!I* directly hired %y hisLher company 'FFI* FJI has permanentwork+

Oevertheless employment conditions di5er according to monthlypersonal income occupation and gender+

i+ Salaried men and women workers %elonging to the pooresteconomic strata have the poorest quality work+

As monthly personal incomes decrease there is a decrease in thenum%er o& workers that:

? have written contracts with little di5erence %etween men andwomen

? have inde1nite contracts while the proportion o& men with10ed term contracts and women with task?%ased contracts

increases+? are aHliated to the pension and health insurance systems

a* Management%* Pro&essionalsc* .echniciansd* )Hce ,orkerse* Sales Clerks

&* Machine )peratorsg* Service industry,orkers

h* Oon?quali1ed



As monthly personal incomes decrease the percentage o& men andwomen that have %een unemployed in the last #! months increases+

.he period o& unemployment is longer &or women+

ii+ .here are inequalities according to occupation and se0 too

.he highest percentages o& unprotected workers are <unskilledagricultural and manu&acturing workers> with &ewer written contractsmore temporary contracts higher unemployment lower incomes and&ewer social security %ene1ts+

.he women in this group have &ewer inde1nite contracts and morethan hal& o& them were unemployed in the last #! months+

A higher percentage o& su%?contracted or supplied workers are in theservice group with a higher proportion o& women in this group+

.here is a high percentage o& pro&essionals and service workers withtemporary jo%s especially women+

iii+ $n all the occupational groups women have lower incomes

Part !+ Correspondence Analysis

p until now we have analysed independently the relationship%etween the di5erent varia%les related to the quality o& work 'type o&contract social security unemployment employment sta%ility andothers* with the di5erent dimensions related to social and genderinequality which allowed us to identi&y that underlying the glo%al1gures on employment are major inequalities according to se0occupation and income levels+ $n the second stage o& the analysis wepropose to de1ne the position o& workers in a virtual line in which onerepresents the %est employment and the other the worst consideringall the dimensions at the same time+ Dor this purpose we will use ananalytical resource called <correspondence analysis>+

Correspondence analysis considers all the varia%les related to thequality o& employment o& every worker simultaneously and thengroups him or her into a cluster according to the pro0imity to thedimensions used+ Supplementary varia%les were introduced into thegroupings to deepen the analysis+

.he varia%les used in the construction o& groupings 'clusters* were E0istence o& a contract .ype o& contract

8uration o& contract ,ho does the hiring



Permanent or temporary work Nength o& the working week nemployment Average personal monthly income AHliation to the pension system

AHliation to the healthcare system $nsurance &or work?related illnesses and accidents

.he supplementary varia%les were se0 socioeconomic groupoccupation and age+

Si0 clusters were identi1ed each o& which grouped individuals withsimilar employment conditions+

.he name o& each cluster re&ers to the most predominant

employment &eature o& that cluster+ Drom the %est quality to the mostprecarious the &ollowing clusters were identi1ed: the <%estemployment> the <medium income &ormal employment> the<outsourced poorest &ormal employment> the <temporary protectedworkers> <unprotected ver%ally contracted employment> and the<unprotected casual employment>+

.he <%est employment> represents the %est quality employmentcharacteri=ed %y high personal income sta%le employment withinde1nite contracts and social security and without unemployment inthe previous year+ .he succeeding clusters e0press degrees o&

deterioration in the quality o& employment until reaching the lastcharacteri=ed %y low quality employment low income unsta%le withtemporary contracts some with ver%al contracts outsourced lesscoverage o& social security and with episodes o& unemployment inthe previous year+

$n terms o& occupations the only clear tendencies are: a* persons whooccupy management positions and some pro&essionals andtechnicians are located in the cluster with the %est employment andare also in the highest socioeconomic level o& the sample+ .he

majority o& persons in the %est employment cluster are men and %*the cluster that represents the worst jo%s are mostly temporaryagricultural and industrial work service and oHce workers andmachine operators+ More women and youth are grouped in this clusterthan in any other+ Oevertheless what is noteworthy is that with thee0ception o& management positions most o& the occupations aredistri%uted in most o& the clusters o& which represent poor qualityemployment+ .his demonstrates the poor quality o& employment inthe country and at the same time the diversity o& employmentconditions including quali1ed jo%s that require a relatively high levelo& education+ .he lower participation o& women in the cluster that

represents good quality employment was nota%le as was theirgreater participation in precarious employment+



!+ Part .wo: Psychological risks in the workplace: social and genderinequalities

Dor the analysis o& the psychological risks in the workplace we use

;arasek and .heorell-s model: demandLcontrolLsocial support '#66"*Siegrist-s Model e5ortLreward im%alance '#667 !""6* and work?&amily and &amily?work inter&erence dimensions+

Although there is no agreement among social scientists in this 1elda%out the way to de1ne and measure the psychosocial workenvironment the demand?control model o& ;arasek and .heorell'#66"* and Siegrist-s e5ort?reward im%alance model have %een usedinternationally and have provided solid evidence a%out theassociations %etween the psychosocial dimensions o& work and thedevelopment o& illnesses+ ;arasek and .heorell-s '#66"* model positsthat to the degree that individuals perceive high psychologicaldemands accompanied %y low control over their work they wille0perience work?related distress+ Social support acts as a moderating&actor o& this tension and when social support is perceived negativelythe health risks increase+ .he domestic workload and work?&amily and&amily?work inter&erence as psychosocial risk &actors &or womenworkers have not %een well studied in Chile+ ,e hope that the resultso& this survey will contri%ute to understanding and e0plaining in partthe increase o& mental health pro%lems among women in Chile whohave the main responsi%ility &or domestic and care?giving work even

when they participate in the la%our market+ Questions on work?&amily%alance included in the survey were developed &rom the revision o& scales and international studies %y among others ;ristensen ;+!""7 2utek + !""# 8u0%ury N+ 3 C+ (iggins+ !""G lanco 2+ 3 N+Deldman+ !""" Oetemeyer oles 3 McMurrian '#667* and $S.AS !#'!""F*+

a. ;arasek and .heorell-s model o& demandLcontrolLsocialsupport

.he results o& the survey show that most o& the women and menworkers perceive:

i. (igh psychological demandsii. Nittle control and opportunity to e0ercise a%ilitiesiii. Now social support &rom their peers and superiorsiv. (igh im%alance %etween e5orts and rewardsv. (igh levels o& work?&amily inter&erence among women

(owever we &ound di5erences in psychosocial demandsL controlLsocial support %y occupation and se0+



y occupation

i+ Managers and pro&essionals show high psychologicaldemand K high control ? high social support+ ,hen thecontrol over the work is high and the psychological

demands are also high %ut not e0cessive the predictede5ects are learning and growth+ .his type o& work isde1ned as active and associated with mediumpsychosocial tension+

ii+ .echnicians show high psychological demand K highcontrol K high social support like the 1rst group %ut in alesser proportion which indicates that there is apercentage o& technicians in situations o& psychosocialrisk+

iii+ )Hce sales and service workers show less demand lesscontrol and low social support+ ,ork with low demandsand low control produce an environment that is notmotivating and leads to negative learning+

iv+ nskilled agricultural manu&acturing and transportworkers show high demands low control low socialsupport a situation that leads to jo% strain and can %e theprecursor o& mental health pro%lems+

v+ nskilled service workers show the lowest demand lowcontrol and low social support which represent asituation o& negative learning and high psychosocial risk+

y se0:

i. .he perception o& high demands is more prevalent amongwomen in all occupations+ .he major di5erences were o%servedamong service unskilled agricultural manu&acturing andtransport workers and the least di5erences were o%servedamong oHce workers and pro&essionals+

ii. Men and women report similar perceptions with respect tocontrol in their work+

iii. .here are no clear tendencies in terms o& gender with respect tothe perception o& low or high support in work in di5erent

occupations+ .he e0ceptions are: More women than men pro&essionals report low social

support .he reverse is the case &or unskilled agricultural

manu&acturing and transport work where men report lowsocial support+

%* Siegrist-s Model: e5ortLreward im%alance

Siegrist-s model posits that the im%alance %etween e5ort and the

rewards received 'high costLlow %ene1ts* o&ten occurs in speci1cconditions and that in the a%sence o& corresponding rewards



produces strong negative emotions and stress that in the long termnegatively a5ect the physical and mental health o& men and womenworkers+ ,ith respect to the perception o& e5ort and rewards %yoccupations and se0 the results o& the survey show that:

i+ .he perception o& high e5ort is higher &or %oth se0es withmore quali1ed work and decreases with less quali1ed : 9#Imanagers perceive high e5orts against !"I o& unskilledworkers

ii+ .here are &ew di5erences %etween men and women e0ceptamong managers and unskilled agricultural andmanu&acturing workers where more women than men reporthigh e5ort+

iii+ $n contrast the perception o& receiving low rewards increasesmoving &rom quali1ed to unskilled jo%s &or %oth se0es+ !Io& managers report low rewards against 7FI o& unskilledagricultural manu&acturing and transport workers

iv+ More women than men in all occupations report low rewardswith variations in the magnitude o& the di5erence+

? ,ith respect to the perception o& the e5ortLreward im%alance %yoccupation and se0

i. More than hal& the respondents reported e5ortLrewardim%alance

ii. nskilled agricultural manu&acturing and transport workers

reported the highest levels o& e5ortLreward im%alanceiii. $nequalities %etween men and women are &ound inmanagement and unskilled agricultural manu&acturing andtransport work where more women report more im%alances+

c* ,ork load and work?&amily inter&erence

.he organi=ation o& work imposes increasingly more /e0i%le schedulesthat &avour employers+ Studies a%out salaried employment indicatethat paid work invades &amily and personal li&e and vice?versa+ .hecon/ict is accentuated %y the presence o& children especially under

the age o& G and older adults and the chronically ill that require care+ .he resolution o& this con/ict &alls mainly on women who haveresponsi%ility &or most domestic and care?giving work+

.he survey included questions to measure two areas o& con/ict:i+ .he domestic and care?giving workload measured in hours

per day and per week and the total work load consideringtime given to domestic and care?giving work and time &orremunerated work+

ii+ .wo scales were included to measure inter&erence orpotential con/ict %etween work and &amily in %oth directions+$n this preliminary analysis we present selected results+



,ith respect to the glo%al workload the survey results show thatwomen work more hours than men: GG+F and G+! hours per weekrespectively+ .he di5erence occurs in %oth paid and domestic work%ut especially the latter+ Although women work an average o& 99hours per week in paid work'# hour less than the regular work week*

they spend twice as much time as men doing domestic work: ##+6hours versus 9+6 hours on average weekly+

$n relation to the inter&erence %etween work in the home and paidwork the preliminary results indicate that women in all the clustersreport high levels o& inter&erence in %oth home and paid work+ 2enderis a more important determinant varia%le in this relationship thanquality o& employment+ As well no di5erences were o%served amongwomen according to the length o& the working week+ Spending moreor less than 9G hours per week in paid work in general is notassociated with signi1cant di5erences in the scores &or indicators o& the work?&amily con/ict among others+

i+ 9GI o& men and 76I o& women workers agree with thestatement <.here are times or situations when $ need to %eat work and at home at the same time>

ii+ #6I o& men and G#I o& women agree with the statement<,hen $ am at work $ think a%out domestic and &amily tasks+>

.his is the only dimension in which signi1cant di5erenceswere &ound %etween women in skilled and unskilledoccupations: 7"I o& women Service workers &actoryworkers unskilled agricultural manu&acturing and transportworkers versus FI?9GI o& women pro&essionals managersand technicians agree with this statement+

iii+ #"I o& men and !FI o& women agree with the statement<My work or career inter&eres with my responsi%ilities athome 'cooking cleaning etc+*>

iv+ ##I o& men and "I o& women agree with the statement <$nmy work $ am o&ten too tired %ecause o& the things that $ doat home>

v+ 7I o& men and 9# I o& women agree with the statement

<ecause o& my responsi%ilities at work $ have to change my&amily plans>

,hile no signi1cant di5erences were o%served among womenaccording to occupations di5erences were o%served according to thedemands and conditions o& domestic and care?giving work+

i+ ,omen workers that dedicate more than eight hours weeklyto domestic work o%tain the highest score in indicators o& work?&amily con/ict in the two aspects o& the con/ict'inter&erence o& work in &amily li&e and inter&erence o& &amily

matters in working li&e*+



ii+ Niving with a partner is associated with a higher score inindicators o& work?&amily con/ict among male workers+(owever living with or without a partner is not associatedwith signi1cant di5erences in indicators o& work?&amilycon/ict &or women+

iii+ ,omen workers who do not have domestic employees havehigher scores in indicators o& work?&amily con/ict+

+ P art .hree: ,ho is e0posed to psychosocial risks

Quality o& employment and psychosocial risks

ntil now we have descri%ed the results o& the survey in the themesrelated to employment conditions 'Part )ne* psychological risks inthe workplace: social and gender inequalities which includes the

domestic workload and work?&amily inter&erence 'Part .wo*+ $n thisthird part we will discuss preliminary results with respect to therelationship %etween employment quality and psychosocial risks+

#+ ;arasek and .heorell-s model o& demandLcontrolLsocialsupport

$n the <2ood quality employment> 2roup we &ound that:

i+ .he <%est employment> cluster has the lowest e0posure to

psychosocial risk: high demand high control and high socialsupportT low risk

ii+ .he <medium income &ormal employment> and the<outsourced poorest &ormal employment> clusters show highdemand low control and low social support T high risk o&high jo% strain

$n the poorest quality jo%s we &ound:i. .he <unprotected ver%ally contracted employment> and the

<unprotected occasional employment> clusters report low

demand and low controlT negative learning %ut high socialsupportT moderate jo% strain

ii. .he <temporary protected workers> cluster reports low level o&demand low control and low social support T higherpsychosocial risk precursor o& mental illness+

!+ Siegrist-s Model: e5ortLreward im%alance

$n the <good quality employment> group we &ound that:i. $n general respondents report high e5orts %ut there are

di5erent perceptions a%out rewards



ii. Respondents in the <%est employment> cluster perceive thattheir high e5orts are well rewarded thus a %etter %alance+

iii. .he <medium income &ormal employment> and <outsourcedpoorest &ormal employment> clusters report perceptions o& highe5orts and low rewards thus a poorer %alance 'greatere5ortLreward im%alance*

$n the poor quality employment clusters we &ound that the perceptiono& the degree o& e5ort does not di5er &rom that o& the <good qualityemployment> clusters %ut they report low rewards thus a greatere5ortLreward im%alance

$n all clusters women report a more negative perception o& rewardsthan do men e0cept women &rom the <%est employment> cluster+

+ ,ork?&amily inter&erence: two dimensions

$n the preliminary results o& the survey we analy=e the associations%etween two dimensions related to work?&amily inter&erence and thequality o& employment+ .hese are: <.here are moments or situationswhen $ need to %e at work and at home at the same time> and <,hen$ am at work $ think a%out domestic and &amily tasks>+

,e &ound that:

i+ $n all the clusters women report a high level o& inter&erence%etween the two spaces in the two dimensions+

ii+ 2ender appears to %e a determining varia%le o& thisrelationship %eyond the quality o& employment+

iii+ .he <temporary protected workers> cluster reports thehighest inter&erence in %oth dimensions+

9+ Part Dour: E 0posure to work?related psychosocial risk: riskyconsumption o& alcohol and depressive symptomology

.his chapter was developed %y 8r+ Michel 4U=ina a mem%er o& theresearch team o& the Araucaria Project and Elisa Ansoleaga projectadvisor and doctoral candidate in Pu%lic (ealth o& the niversidad deChile+

.he general o%jective o& this research is to assess depressivesymptomology and the risky consumption o& alcohol associated with



pathogenic characteristics o& the organi=ation o& work in Chileaccording to gender+

.here is increasing evidence o& the associations %etween e0posure towork?related psychosocial risks and adverse health e5ects+ According

to the ,orld (ealth Report 'PA() !""#* there has %een a signi1cantincrease in mental disorders in recent decades+ Mental illness is nowconsidered among the major causes &or healthy years lost disa%ilityand premature death+ .he higher prevalence o& mental disorders is&ound among persons %etween the ages o& #G and 99 in e5ect aworking or potentially working population+ .he 1gures are even morenota%le given that medical leaves given &or <mental disorders and%ehaviour> increased %y F!I %etween !""G and !""J in Chile'Superintendencia de Seguridad Social !""F*+

Alcohol dependence is one o& the 1ve principal causes o& avoida%ledeath and disa%ility in Chile &or %oth se0es+ .he major o%stacle in thestudy o& alcohol consumption is that it is a multi?causal phenomenonwith multiple e5ects+ Oevertheless numerous studies around theworld have shown associations %etween work and alcoholconsumption+

8epressive symptomology is assessed in this study using an inde0composed o& two key symptoms &or diagnostic classi1cation adepressed mood and loss o& interest in most activities+ .his indicatorwas used in the QuU%ec Survey on ,orking and Employment

Conditions and )ccupational (ealth and Sa&ety '4U=ina et al+ !"##*+• Oow $ am going to ask you a &ew questions a%out your

psychological well %eing+ 8uring the past #! months was thereever a time when you &elt sad %lue or depressed &or ! weeks ormore in a row

• 8uring the past #! months was there ever a time lasting !weeks or more when you lost interest in most things likeho%%ies work or activities that usually give you pleasure

.he risky consumption o& alcohol was measured through A8$.'Alcohol se 8isorders $denti1cation .est* developed %y the ,() and

validated in Chile %y Alvarado et al+ $t includes #" items and dimensions+

#+ Results

#+#+ Risky consumption o& alcohol

.he total prevalence o& risky alcohol consumption was ##I with F7I&or men and #9I &or women+



Men present a signi1cantly higher prevalence &or risky alcoholconsumption than women and young people present a signi1cantlyhigher prevalence than older adults+ .here are also certain economicsectors with higher risk o& alcohol consumption 'construction andtransport* and others that are protectors 'community and personal

services and commerce*+

i+ $n relation to the quality o& employment signi1cantassociations were o%served %etween %eing unemployedreporting three or more conditions o& precariousness #and%eing employed in unskilled work and the risky alcoholconsumptionAge se0 and unemployment are the most determiningvaria%les in di5erences in the risk o& consuming alcohol+

ii+ $n relation to psychosocial risk and the consumption o& alcohol the results indicate that:

- Men and women workers e0posed to low social support presentone and a hal& times as much risky alcohol consumption as thosewho are not e0posed to low social support+ Strati1ed %y se0 thiscrude association is maintained &or men and controlling &or se0age unemployment and economic sector it is attenuated %utremains signi1cant+

- E0posure to jo% strain 'com%ination o& high demands and lowdecision?making latitude* shows strong association with the risk o& consuming alcohol in the case o& women+

- E0posure to $sostrain 'com%ination o& high demands low decision?making latitude and low social support* is associated with riskyalcohol consumption among men+

- E0posure to low rewards is associated with increased risky alcoholconsumption among men+

- E0posure to an e5ort?reward im%alance is associated with anincreased risky alcohol consumption in all the models &or men andwomen 'strong associations &or women 'RRT!+!G**+

- Oo signi1cant associations were o%served %etween &amily?workand work?&amily inter&erence and risky alcohol consumption norsigni1cant di5erences among women %y occupational category as

indicated %y the evidence+- .here are strong associations %etween e0posure to psychological

harassment and risky alcohol consumption among women workers'RRV!+G*+

#+!+ 8epressive symptomology

1 .he occupational precariousness inde0 takes into consideration the reporting o&precarious employment situations such as: 10ed term contracts or piece workworking &or a su%contractor low work sta%ility %eing unemployed in the last #!

months having less than #! months seniority and low income+ .his varia%le wasdichotomi=ed %etween su%jects presenting more than o& these situations T # andthose who have %etween " and ! T "



.he total sample presents a prevalence o& depressive symptomologyo& #"+JI 'GI among men and #7I among women*+ )& the totalprevalence o& depressive symptomology !7I are men and J9I arewomen+

.he presence o& depressive symptomology is strongly associated withthe &ollowing situations: having received a diagnosis o& chronic illnessa stress&ul li&e situation perceiving economic hardship andemployment characteri=ed %y three or more dimensions o& la%ourprecariousness: work %y 10ed contract or doing piecework working&or a su%?contractor reporting low employment sta%ility having %eenunemployed in the last #! months having less than #! months o& seniority and having a low income+

.he results show that men and women workers e0posed to adversework?related psychosocial &actors have a higher risk o& su5eringdepressive symptomology+

$n agreement with what is reported internationally isostrain ande5ort?reward im%alance are strongly associated with depressivesymptomatology+ .he analysis strati1ed %y se0 shows that:

• ,omen e0posed to isostrain have twice as much risk o&

presenting depressive symptomology as women who are not

e0posed+

• E0posure to low rewards among women is associated with three

times as much risk o& su5ering depressive symptomology aswomen who are not e0posed to low rewards+

• Men e0posed to high psychological demands have three times

as much risk o& presenting depressive symptomology as men

that are not e0posed to such demands+

A&ter adjusting &or varia%les that can con&ound the associations%etween e0posures to pathogenic &actors o& the organi=ation o& workwith depressive symptomology the associations were attenuated %ut

remained signi1cant+

/. (ME ,I*%" )E,"ECTI*(

A preliminary general e0amination o& the employment conditions o&the workers in the sample showed <apparent> compliance with la%ourstandards in the areas o& contractual relations employment sta%ilityand social protection+ (owever these values hide major social andgender inequalities+ .he results show deterioration o& jo% quality thata5ects lower income groups and low?skilled occupations as well as atendency &or women-s employment to %e more precarious+ $n all

occupational groups women have poorer quality jo%s with lower



incomes longer periods o& unemployment or a higher percentage o&them are su%?contracted or supplied %y e0ternal companies+

$n relation to psychosocial risks there were also di5erences %etweenmen and women and among occupations+ More women than men

perceive high demands high e5orts and low rewards which areassociated with greater e0posure to adverse health consequences+Associations were &ound %etween e0posure to psychosocial risks andthe quality o& employment: lower risk corresponds to quali1edpro&essional and managerial occupations and greater e0posure to riskcorresponds to workers in lower quali1ed and lower payingoccupations+

.he analysis o& domestic and care?giving work as well as &amily?workinter&erence introduces a psychosocial risk that has not to date %eenconsidered in studies on work?related mental health and %rings tolight the most important e0planatory &actor &or the gender di5erencein the society as a whole and in particular in employment theunequal distri%ution %etween men and women o& paid and unpaidwork+

$n recent years Chile has pro%lems in the quality o& employment witha clear trend toward in&ormal unprotected and unsta%le employment+

.his is a5ecting an increasing num%er o& workers and in particularwomen+ .he pro%lem is even worse i& we consider that the groupswith the poorest quality employment are also e0posed to the most

dangerous working conditions+ .his study provides in&ormation toacquire a deeper understanding o& the psychosocial risks associatedwith the deterioration o& the quality o& employment in the conte0t o&new &orms o& work organi=ation and la%our relations in Chile+

.he study has also gathered evidence a%out the associations %etweene0posure to pathogenic organi=ation o& work risky consumption o& alcohol and depressive symptomology+

Although one o& the limitations o& this study is the impossi%ility o& esta%lishing causal relationships the results yield interesting data

that concurs with international studies that have made similaranalyses a%out alcohol consumption and depressive symptomology+

Analy=ing these results &rom the perspective o& the socialdeterminants o& health a de1ned social scale can %e noted in relationto the quantity o& alcohol consumed and the consequences+ Persons%elonging to low socio?economic status present more pro%lemsrelated to alcohol consumption and a greater prevalence &or severealcohol?related pro%lems+

Another aspect that requires more analysis is the study o& thedi5erences %etween men and women in the prevalence patterns ande5ects o& consuming alcohol as well as the evidence o& increasing



alcohol consumption %y women with negative consequences+ $t willnow %e key to make a more precise analysis o& women in speci1ceconomic sectors to identi&y conditions or situations o& greater risk+

$n relation to the results o& depressive symptomology the data

analysed and unreported in this report show strong associations%etween psychological harassment in the workplace and work?&amilyL&amily?work inter&erence and the presence o& depressivesymptomology among the studied population+

.he analysis strati1ed %y se0 shows interesting results a%out somegender di5erences in relation to depressive symptomologywhich could lead to &urther study o& the Chilean working population'&or e0ample psychological demand appears to %e more relevant inthe case o& men and low rewards &or women*+

$n the coming months the analysis o& the in&ormation &rom this studywill %e %roadened and deepened in order to provide a more preciseunderstanding o& social and gender inequalities and inequalities inhealth arising &rom conditions o& employment work and the load o& domestic and care?giving work among men and women workers+



)e0erences

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#l !rabao $e !ran$'or(a) elacione$ de *rod+cción , elacione$ de nero.

San/iao) 1#.

8u0%ury N+ 3 C+ (iggins+ !""9+ Examen du confit entre le travail et la vie personnelle et

des contraintes qu’il exerce sur le système de santé canadien+Rapport + )ttawa: Agence de SantU Pu%lique Canada+

ollac3 . & S. ol5o''. 6778. 1i/i+$3 9l/i+$3 For/i+$ ) L:in/en$i'ica/ion d+ /ravail. In

Le$ ca;ier$ (illnaire$ <3 L:avenir d+ /ravail e/ de la 'or(a/ion = el(en/$ >o+r

+n dba/3 46-4?.

2utek + !""#+ <,omen and Paid ,ork>+ Psycholoy o! "omen#uarterly !G'9*: J6? 6+$OE: $nstituto Oacional de EstadBstica+ Encuesta $acional de Empleo+

Ao !""6+Santiago Chile+

;arasek R+ 3 .+ .heorell+ #66"+ %ealthy "or&' Stress( Productivity andthe

)econstruction o! "or&in *i!e+ Oew @ork: asic ooks+;arasek R+ #6J6+ <o% 8emands o% 8ecision Natitude and Mental

Strain: $mplications

&or o% Redesign+> +dministrative Science #uarterly !9:!FG?"F+

;ristensen ;+ !""7+ alancing ,ork and Damily: 2etting $t Right+Paper presented at

the $nternational Congress on Socially responsive sociallyresponsi%le approaches to employment and work organi=adopor Monash niversity 'Australia* and ;ing- College NondonPrato $talie ulio+

e$$in3 @.3 L. *+nne//3 . Aond3 @. 9lexander$on3 J. *,le3 S. Ba;(3 D. Ce(an3 S.

S/oc5 & S. De ro$boi$. 200<. Ae /;e Faire$/ o' !;e( 9ll) 1;allene$ and

eco((enda/ion$ 'or /;e !rea/(en/ o' ender in cc+>a/ional Eeal/; e$earc;.

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Eeal/;) !;e I(>or/ance o' 1on$iderin ec;ani$(. #nviron(en/al e$earc;

606"2%) 647-682.

Ministerio de Salud 2o%ierno de Chile+ Encuesta Oacional de Salud!""+ Santiago:

Ministerio de Salud de Chile+Ministerio de Salud 2o%ierno de Chile+ Primer Encuesta Oacional de

Empleo .ra%ajoSalud y Calidad de 4ida de .ra%ajadores y .ra%ajadoras en Chile

'EOE.S !""6?!"#"*+ Santiago: Ministerio de Salud de Chile



Oetemeyer oles 3 McMurrian #667+ 8evelopment and validity o& work?&amily

con/ict and &amily?work con/ict scales+ ournal o& AppliedPsychology F# '9* 9""?9#"+

Pan American (ealth )rgani=ation 'PA()* !""#+ Promoting (ealth in

the Americas+Annual Report o& the 8irector+ !""#+ )Hcial 8ocument OW "!+

Siegrist + #667+ <Adverse (ealth E5ects o& (igh?E5ortLNow?RewardConditions>+

,ournal o! -ccupational %ealth Psycholoy #'#*Siegrist ohannes Oatalia ,ege Dranc PXlho&er Morten ,ahrendor& !""6+ <A short

generic mesure o& work stress in the era o& glo%ali=ation: e5ort?reward im%alance+> nt. +rch -ccup Envirom %ealth '!""6*F!:#""G?#"#

Superintendencia de Seguridad Social !""F+ $n&orme de NicenciasMUdicas

$S.AS+ 4alidaciYn y estandari=aciYn de encuesta Psicosocial en lapo%laciYn chilena

$S.AS !#+ $OD)RME D$OAN+ Superintendencia de SeguridadSocial+ 8iciem%re !""F

4U=ina M St?Arnaud N Stock S Nippel ; Dunes A+ !"##+ EnquUtequU%Ucoise sur des

conditions de travail d-emploi et de santU et de sUcuritU dutravail 'EQC).ESS.*+ Chapitre 6:SantU mentales E.8ES E.REC(ERC(ES+ Rapport R?76#+ QuU%ec : $nstitut national de

santU pu%lique QuU%ec $nstitut de la statistique QuU%ec+ !"##YHnez3 S. 2004. La Flexibilidad Laboral 1o(o +evo #e de la *rod+cción ,

e>rod+cción. In S. Yañez & . !odaro. #l !rabao $e !ran$'or(a. elacione$ de

*rod+cción , elacione$ de nero. San/iao) 1#.

20120903084527Employment Conditions and Psychosocial Risk in Salaried Workers in Chile. a Gender...

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