Nearly two out of every ten cases of depression in Europe can be directly attributed to stress at work, revealed the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) in a research project published on Wednesday 4 October, which, based on data from 35 countries from 2015, estimated the number of cases and deaths due to depression and cardiovascular disease that can be directly attributed to psychosocial exposure at work, according to a press release.
This new research confirms “that exposure to psychosocial risks at work is at the root of certain pathologies, such as depression and coronary heart disease”.
The study focused on five psychosocial risks at work: job strain, effort-reward imbalance, job insecurity, long working hours and bullying.
“The attributable fractions of depression were all significant in the EU28: job strain (16%), job insecurity (9%), bullying (9%) and effort-reward imbalance (6%)”. However, the study points to major differences from one country to another.
“For instance, in France, 19% of depression cases are attributable to workplace bullying when in Spain, 21% of depression cases are attributable to job strain”, adds the press release.
“These significant data reinforce the need for an EU directive on psychosocial risks at work” comments Pierre Bérastégui, a researcher at the ETUI, in the press release.
Link to the study: https://aeur.eu/f/8xs (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)