Helseeffekten av omorganisering i Forsvaret : betydningen av jobbrelatert støtte : en delstudie av Forsvarets helseundersøkelse 2004.

1 ABSTRACT Effect of reorganization, job insecurity and work related social support on health of employees. Background: There has been a large organisational downsizing in the Norwegian Defence Forces. Several recent meta-analyses have confirmed that these kinds of changes may have negative effects on the well being and health of the employees. The first aim of this study was to explore the health effect among the employees in the Norwegian Defence Forces. Secondly, the effects of work related social support (supervisor and co-workers). Material and Methods: The Norwegian Defence Forces health study is a cross sectional survey carried out in 2004. 16550 employees were invited, 9966 were willing to be enrolled in the study (58.2). Data were analysed with the use of SPSS 13.0. Results: 50.1 % reported that the restructuring process had effected them in a negative way. 55.7% thought that they might lose their job. These stressors were strongly associated with impaired health, especially poor self-reported health status and psychological well-being. There was also a significant association between poor work related support and impaired health. Interpretation: Downisizing is a risk to the health of employees. Work related support may act as a resource in changes