THE LINK BETWEEN THE EFFORT-REWARD IMBALANCE IN THE WORK ENVIRONMENT AND INDICATORS OF PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH

Veliko teorij preučuje stres v delovnem okolju. V tej raziskavi smo se osredotočili za model ERI preučevanja stresa, ki se osredotoča na razmerje med trudom, vloženim v delo in nagrado, ki jo za trud pričakujemo. Neravnovesje med trudom in nagrado lahko namreč vodi v občutenje stresa na delovnem mestu, s stresom pa se povezujejo tudi številni psihološki in fizični indikatorji zdravja. Tako smo želeli preveriti, ali obstajajo razlike med skupinami zaposlenih v depresivni simptomatiki, izgorelosti, krvnemu pritisku in razmerju obsega pasu ter višino glede na razmerje ERI, prav tako visoko oz. nizko predanost delu in kakšna je razlika, če pogledamo še interakcijo obojega. Raziskave, ki je potekala v okviru projekta ZdravUm, se je udeležilo 97 zaposlenih iz različnih poklicnih skupin. Reševali so vprašalnik ERI-Q (Siegrist, 2013), vprašalnik izgorelosti OLBI – The Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (Demerouti idr. 2001) in vprašalnik o bolnikovem zdravju 9 oz. PHQ-9 (Patient Health Questionnaire 9) (Kroenke in Spitzer, 2002). Poleg tega smo udeležencem izmerili še krvni pritisk ter obseg pasu in višino, da smo lahko izračunali razmerje med njima. Rezultati so pokazali, da zaposleni, ki so prekomerno predani delu poročajo o več depresivnih simptomih kot zaposleni, ki delu niso prekomerni predani. Razlika se je pokazala kot statistično pomembna. Pokazal pa se je tudi statistično pomemben pogojen učinek interakcije razmerja ERI in prekomerne predanosti glede prisotnosti depresivnih simptomov. O več depresivnih simptomih tako poročajo zaposleni z neugodnim razmerjem in visoko prekomerno predanostjo v primerjavi z zaposlenimi z neugodnim ERI razmerjem in nizko predanostjo. V nadaljevanju smo odkrili, da zaposleni, ki so prekomerno predani delu poročajo tudi o več simptomih izgorelosti kot zaposleni, ki delu niso prekomerno predani. Tudi tukaj je razlika med njimi statistično pomembna. Ugotovitve v nadaljevanju pa se niso izkazale kot statistično pomembne. Razlike med zaposlenimi v poročanju o zgornjem oz. spodnjem krvnem pritisku glede na prekomerno predanost, razmerje ERI ali interakcijo obojega nismo odkrili. Prav tako ni statistično pomembna razlika med skupinama zaposlenih z neugodnim/ugodnim ERI razmerjem glede razmerja med obsegom pasu in višino. Iz rezultatov lahko sklepamo, da se stres na delovnem mestu povezuje s psihološkimi indikatorji zdravja. Zaradi tega je zelo pomembno poskrbeti za zdravje zaposlenih. Psihologi smo tukaj strokovni delavci, ki lahko k temu pripomoremo. Delodajalce in zaposlene moramo ozaveščati o problemu, jim nuditi pomoč ter jih učiti o strategijah spoprijemanja, saj le skupaj lahko naredimo korak naprej v preprečevanju stresa na delovnem mestu.Many theories study stress in the workplace. In our study we focused on the ERI stress model which deals with the relationship between the effort spent and the reward we expect in exchange for this effort. An imbalance between effort and reward can lead to a sense of stress in the workplace, whereby stress is linked to numerous mental and physical health indicators. We therefore wanted to verify if there are any differences between the groups of employees with regard to depressive symptomatology, burnout, blood pressure and height to waist size ratio in view of ERI ratio, and, furthermore, the level of commitment to work, and what differences can be observed if we consider these factors’ interaction. Studies that were carried out as part of the ZdravUm project included 97 employees from various career groups. They were asked to complete the ERI-Q questionnaire (Siegrist, 2013), the OLBI – Oldenburg Burnout Inventory questionnaire (Demerouti et al., 2001) and the PHQ-9 questionnaire (Patient Health Questionnaire 9) (Kroenke and Spitzer, 2002). In addition to this, we measured the participants’ blood pressure, as well as height and waist size so we could calculated the ratio between them. Results showed that employees who were overly dedicated to their work reported more symptoms of depression than those who were not overly dedicated. The difference was statistically significant. A statistically significant conditional effect presented itself of the interaction between the ERI ratio and overcommitment to work in view of the presence of depression symptoms. Thereby employees with an unfavourable ratio and a high level of overcommitment reported more depression symptoms in comparison with employees with an unfavourable ERI ratio and a low level of commitment. We further discovered that employees that were overcommitted to work reported more symptoms of burnout in comparison with employees who were not overcommitted. The difference between them is also statistically significant. However, the findings presented in continuation proved to be statistically insignificant. We did not identify any differences between the employees regarding their reporting on upper and lower blood pressure in view of overcommitment, ERI ratio or the interaction between both factors. The difference between the groups of employees with a favourable/unfavourable ERI ratio in view of the ratio between their height and waist size was likewise statistically insignificant. From these results we can conclude that stress in the workplace is linked to mental health indicators. Due to this, it is clear how important it is to care for the health of employees. We, as psychologists, are professionals who can contribute to this. We have to make employers and employees aware of these issues, offer them assistance and teach them coping strategies, as only together can we make progress to prevent stress in the workplace