Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of the financial crisis on psychological work stress among financial workers and lawyers.
Methods
The Chinese versions of Karasek’s job content questionnaire (C-JCQ) and Siegrist’s ERI questionnaire (C-ERI) were used to measure work stress, and the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (C–CBI) questionnaire was used to measure personal and work-related burnout for 38 financial workers and 97 lawyers before and after the financial crisis in 2008. A paired t test was used to compare changes in work stress and burnout. A logistic regression was performed to determine the association between psychosocial work stress and burnout.
Results
After the financial crisis, financial workers reported significantly higher stress from fear of layoffs, increased experiences of undesirable changes and more fear of making mistakes during work. On the contrary, lawyers reported significantly higher scores of reward, fewer psychological demands and less exhaustion. In addition to high psychological demand and a high effort–reward ratio, high effort, over-commitment and stress of layoffs also contributed to personal and work-related burnout after the financial crisis. After the financial crisis, lawyers’ personal burnout decreased with the increase of reward, and their work-related burnout decreased with the decrease in psychological demand.
Conclusions
The financial crisis has an unequal psychological impact on financial workers and lawyers. Financial workers’ psychosocial work stress and burnout were aggravated, while lawyers’ psychosocial work stress and burnout were alleviated.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Belkic K, Nedic O (2007) Workplace stressors and lifestyle-related cancer risk factors among female physicians: assessment using the occupational stress index. J Occup Health 49:61–71
Cheng Y, Luh W-M, Guo Y-L (2003) Reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the job content questionnaire in taiwanese workers. Int J Behav Med 10(1):15–30
Directorate-General of Budget Accounting and Statistics (2009a) http://www.dgbas.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=14616&CtNode=3566
Directorate-General of Budget Accounting and Statistics (2009b) http://www.dgbas.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=17166&ctNode=3246
Europe WHOROF (2005) Mental Health and Working Life. Paper presented at the WHO European Ministerial Conference on Mental Health, Helsinki, Finland
Guimont C, Brisson C, Dagenais GR, Milot A, Vezina M, Masse B et al (2006) Effects of job strain on blood pressure: a prospective study of male and female white-collar workers. Am J Public Health 96(8):1436–1443
Karasek R (1979) Job demands, job decision latitude, and mental strain: implications for job redesign. Adm Sci Q 24:285–307
Kristensen TS, Borritz M, Villadsen E, Christensen KB (2005) The copenhagen burnout inventory: a new tool for the assessment of burnout. Work Stress 19(3):192–207
Landsbergis PA (2003) The changing organization of work and the safety and health of working people: a commentary. J Occup Environ Med 45:61–72
Li J, Yang W, Cheng Y, Siegrist J, Cho S-I (2005) Effort-reward imbalance at work and job dissatisfaction in Chinese healthcare workers: a validation study. Int Arch Occup Envrion Health 78:198–204
Marmot M, Bell R (2009) How will the financial crisis affect health? BMJ 338:858–861
NIOSH (1999) Stress at Work (No. DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 99–101)
Orth-Gomer K (2007) Job strain and risk of acute recurrent coronary heart edisease events. JAMA 298(14):1652–1660
Siegrist J (1996) Adverse health effects of high effort-/low reward conditions. J Occup Health Psychol 1:27–41
Stuclder D, Basu S, Suhrake M, Coutts A, Mckee M (2009) The public health effect of economic crises and alternative policy responses in Europe: an empirical analysis. Lancet 374:315–323
Tsai F-J, Huang W-L, Chan C-C (2009) Occupational stress and burnout of lawyers. J Occup Health 51:443–450
Tsutsumi A, Kawakami N (2004) A review of empirical studies on the model of effort-reward imbalance at work: reducing occupational stress by implementing a new theory. Soc Sci Med 59:2335–2359
Umehara K, Ohya Y, Kawakami N, Tsutsumi A, Fujimura M (2007) Association of work-related factors with psychosocial job stressors and psychosomatic symptoms among Japanese Pediatricians. J Occup Health 49:467–481
Yeh W-Y, Cheng Y, Chen C-J, Hu P-Y, Kristensen TS (2007) Psychometric properties of the Chinese version of copenhagen burnout inventory among employees in two companies in Taiwan. Int J Behav Med 14:126–133
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tsai, FJ., Chan, CC. The impact of the 2008 financial crisis on psychological work stress among financial workers and lawyers. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 84, 445–452 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-010-0609-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-010-0609-0