Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research - Research Publications

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    Poor psychosocial job conditions increase sickness absence: evidence from the PATH Through Life Mid-Aged Cohort
    Leach, L ; Milner, A ; San Too, L ; Butterworth, P (BMJ PUBLISHING GROUP, 2022-09)
    OBJECTIVES: Evidence is mounting that poor psychosocial job conditions increase sickness absence, but there is a need for further rigorous prospective research to isolate the influence of psychosocial job quality from other measured and unmeasured confounders. This study used four waves of prospective longitudinal data (spanning 12 years) to investigate the extent to which increases in poor psychosocial job quality are associated with greater relative risk of day of sickness absence. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: Data were from the Australian PATH Through Life cohort study. The analyses adopted hybrid-regression estimations that isolated the effect of within-person change in psychosocial job quality on sickness absence over time. PARTICIPANTS: Participants were from a midlife cohort aged 40-44 at baseline (7644 observations from 2221 participants). PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURE: Days sickness absence in the past 4 weeks. RESULTS: The results show that after adjusting for a wide range of factors as well as unmeasured between-person differences in job quality, each additional psychosocial job adversity was associated with a 12% increase in the number of days of sickness absence (relative risk ratio: 1.12, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.21). Increases in psychosocial job adversity were also related to greater functional impairment (relative risk ratio: 1.17 (1.05 to 1.30)). CONCLUSION: The results of this study strengthen existing research highlighting the importance of addressing poor psychosocial job quality as a risk factor for sickness absence.
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    Mental Health Problems and Internet Access: Results From an Australian National Household Survey
    Too, LS ; Leach, L ; Butterworth, P (JMIR Publications, 2020-05-15)
    Background: Mental health support and interventions are increasingly delivered on the web, and stepped care systems of mental health services are embracing the notion of a digital gateway through which individuals can have access to information, assessment, and services and can be connected with more intensive services if needed. Although concerns have been raised over whether people with mental health problems are disadvantaged in terms of their access to the internet, there is a lack of representative data on this topic. Objective: This study aimed to examine the relationship between mental health and internet access, particularly lack of access because of affordability issues. Methods: Data from wave 14 of the Household, Income, and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey were used (n=15,596) in the analyses. Sample weights available in the survey were used to calculate the proportion of those with or without internet access for those with and without mental health problems and more severe long-term mental health conditions. These proportions were also calculated for those with and without internet access due, specifically, to affordability issues. Multinomial logistic regression analyses assessed the relationship between mental health status and internet access/affordability issues, adjusting for a range of covariates. Results: Access to the internet was poorer for those with mental health problems (87.8%) than those without mental health problems (92.2%), and the difference was greater when a measure of more severe mental health conditions was used (81.3% vs 92.2%). The regression models showed that even after adjusting for a broad range of covariates, people with mental ill health were significantly more likely to have no internet access because of unaffordability than those without mental ill health (mental health problems: relative risk ratio [RRR] 1.68; 95% CI 1.11-2.53 and severe mental health conditions: RRR 1.92; 95% CI 1.16-3.19). Conclusions: As Australia and other nations increasingly deliver mental health services on the web, issues of equity and affordability need to be considered to ensure that those who most need support and assistance are not further disadvantaged.
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    Workplace Bullying and Suicidal Ideation: Findings from an Australian Longitudinal Cohort Study of Mid-Aged Workers.
    Leach, LS ; Too, LS ; Batterham, PJ ; Kiely, KM ; Christensen, H ; Butterworth, P (MDPI AG, 2020-02-24)
    Workplace bullying adversely affects mental health, yet little is known about the outcomes for suicidal ideation. The current study used Australian population-based data to investigate the association between workplace bullying and suicidal ideation. The sample included 1488 employed participants aged 52-58 from wave 4 of the Personality and Total Health (PATH) Through Life Study. Workplace bullying was measured in two ways: (a) a single item asked about experiences of bullying 'currently', 'previously in the current workplace' and 'in a past workplace', and (b) 15 items asked about bullying behaviours experienced in the past 6 months. Suicidal ideation was measured using items from the Psychiatric Symptom Frequency Scale (PSF) and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Psychosocial job quality, both current and prior, was adjusted for. Current and past experiences of workplace bullying were associated with increased risk of suicidal ideation. Current experiences were no longer associated after adjusting for concurrent indicators of psychosocial job stress, although a tendency for increased ideation remained. Reported prior experience of workplace bullying in a past workplace remained associated with higher odds of suicidal ideation after adjusting for prior psychosocial job stressors and excluding individuals with prior suicidal ideation. Being bullied at work is associated with increased risk of suicidal thoughts, although this occurs within the broader influence of other psychologically stressful employment conditions.
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    The association between mental disorders and suicide: A systematic review and meta-analysis of record linkage studies
    Too, LS ; Spittal, MJ ; Bugeja, L ; Reifels, L ; Butterworth, P ; Pirkis, J (Elsevier, 2019-12-01)
    Background: There has long been debate about the extent to which mental disorders contribute to suicide. We aimed to examine the evidence on the contribution of mental disorders to suicide among record linkage studies. Methods: We performed a systematic search using eight major health databases for English-language studies published between 1 January 2000 and 11 June 2018 that linked collected data on mental disorders and suicide. We then conducted a meta-analysis to assess risk of suicide conferred by mental disorders. Results: Our search identified 20 articles representing 13 unique studies. The pooled rate ratio (RR) was 13.2 (95% CI 8.6–20.3) for psychotic disorders, 12.3 (95% CI 8.9–17.1) for mood disorders, 8.1 (95% CI 4.6–14.2) for personality disorders, 4.4 (95% CI 2.9–6.8) for substance use disorders, and 4.1 (95% CI 2.4–6.9) for anxiety disorders in the general population. The overall pooled RR for these mental disorders was 7.5 (95% CI 6.6–8.6). The population attributable risk of mental disorders was up to 21%. Limitations: The overall heterogeneity between studies was very high. Conclusions: Our findings underline the important role of mental disorders in suicide. This suggests that ongoing efforts are required to improve access to and quality of mental health care to prevent suicide by people with mental disorders.
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    Psychosocial Job Stressors and Mental Health The Potential Moderating Role of Emotion Regulation
    Too, LS ; Butterworth, P (LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS, 2018-10)
    OBJECTIVE: This study examines whether emotion regulation moderates the association between psychosocial job stressors and psychological distress. METHODS: We used data from the Work and Wellbeing Survey of 1044 Australian working adults. An adjusted linear regression model was used to estimate the moderating effect of emotion regulation. RESULTS: The impact of low fairness and low control at work on distress was stronger in individuals with low (rather than high) cognitive reappraisal [β = 2.42, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) = 0.07 to 4.76; β = 2.58, 95% CI = 0.04 to 5.12, respectively], whereas the impact of high demands on distress was stronger in those with high (rather than low) expressive suppression (β = 2.94, 95% CI = 0.78 to 5.10). CONCLUSION: Individual differences in emotion regulation in response to adverse job conditions should be considered in the management of workplace mental health.