Korean J Occup Environ Med.  2010 Dec;22(4):316-323.

Association between Emotional Labor and Symptoms of Depression among Bankers

• Chu S
• Ryou H
• Bae K
• Song J
• Lee S
• Kim I

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
We focused on the relationship between symptoms of depression and emotional labor to investigate the mental health status of workers.
METHODS
In this cross-sectional study, a total of 2,346 workers among bankers were our study subjects. A self-administered questionnaire was used to assess the socio-demographics, job characteristics, emotional labor and, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression scale (CES-D). We used multiple logistic regression analysis to estimate the relationship between emotional labor and the symptoms of depression.
RESULTS
The prevalence of symptoms of depression among the survey subjects was 20.6%. After adjusting for confounding factors, emotional effort (OR: 1.7, 95% CI=1.28~2.31) and, emotional disharmony (OR: 4.5, 95% CI=3.13~6.44) in men and emotional effort (OR: 1.9, 95% CI=1.33~2.75), emotional disharmony (OR: 6.1, 95% CI=4.12~9.09) in women showed a statistically significant association with symptoms of depression.
CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that emotional disharmony and emotional effort are related to symptoms of depression. Managing emotional disharmony is important in managing symptoms of depression.

Keyword

Depression symptom; Emotional labor

MeSH Terms

Cross-Sectional Studies
Depression
Female
Humans
Logistic Models
Male
Mental Health
Prevalence
Questionnaires