Understanding Work Ability in Employees with Pain and Stress-Related Ill-Health: An Explorative Network Analysis of Individual Characteristics and Psychosocial Work Environment

TL;DR

This study explores how personal traits and work conditions interact to affect work ability in employees with pain and stress-related health issues.

Contribution

The paper introduces a network analysis approach to better understand interactions between individual and work factors in pain and stress-related ill-health.

Findings

Symptom catastrophizing and perceived stress were the most influential factors in all network models.

Catastrophizing and pain-disability risk mediate the link between stress and long-term work ability.

Workplace demand-control-support factors are interrelated and vary by workplace type.

Abstract

There is a wide range of individual and work environment factors that influence work ability among workers with pain and stress-related ill-health. The multiple interactions and overlap between these factors are insufficiently understood, and a network approach could mitigate limitations of previous research. This pilot study aimed to explore interactions between individual characteristics and psychosocial work environment and potential links to long-term work ability.

Prospective data from a prevention project was used. Individuals (N = 147) with pain and/or stress-related ill-health (95% women) at public sector workplaces filled out baseline questionnaires about a collection of individual and work environment factors, which were used for constructing undirected networks. The model was run in three subsamples of workplaces. Finally, a separate model was established with work ability at 6-month follow-up as outcome variable. A shortest pathway analysis was calculated to identify mediators of work ability.

Symptom catastrophizing and perceived stress were the most influential factors in all network models. Symptom catastrophizing and pain-disability risk were found to mediate the relation between perceived stress and long-term work ability. Further, demand-control-support factors were interrelated, and patterns of interaction differed between different types of workplaces.

The findings support the importance of individual factors, specifically symptom catastrophizing in an individual’s coping with pain or stress-problems and its influence on long-term work ability. Catastrophizing might play a role in stress-related disorders which should be further investigated. Individual and work environment factors interact and vary across context, which needs to be taken into consideration to prevent pain and stress-related ill-health at work.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10926-024-10200-3.

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