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Depressive symptoms in women working in a poultry‐processing plant: A longitudinal analysis
Author(s) -
Horton Rachel Avery,
Lipscomb Hester J.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/ajim.20991
Subject(s) - psychosocial , medicine , center for epidemiologic studies depression scale , mental health , coping (psychology) , cohort study , longitudinal study , cohort , depression (economics) , occupational medicine , gerontology , depressive symptoms , environmental health , clinical psychology , psychiatry , occupational exposure , cognition , pathology , economics , macroeconomics
Background Work in poultry‐processing plants is physically demanding, and a number of studies have documented the effects of such work on the physical health of workers. Few studies, however, have examined the potential effects on mental health. Methods Longitudinal data were collected on 223 women who worked in two poultry‐processing plants in northeastern North Carolina. Effects on depressive symptoms of demographic variables, work tenure at baseline, musculoskeletal pain, psychosocial job characteristics, coping style, and health‐related quality of life were examined using mixed models. Results Psychosocial job characteristics were not associated with depressive symptoms as measured by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale (CES‐D) in this cohort of workers. CES‐D scores decreased with increasing work tenure at the plant, which suggests a healthy worker survivor effect (HWSE). Conclusions These exploratory analyses draw attention to the need to more carefully explore the possibility that the HWSE may extend to mental health outcomes as well as physical ones. Am. J. Ind. Med. 54:791–799, 2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.