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Association between workplace discrimination and depressive symptoms among firefighters in South Korea
Author(s) -
Lee Nagyeong,
Kim JiHwan,
Kim Ja Young,
Kim SeungSup
Publication year - 2018
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.22876
Subject(s) - medicine , mental health , confounding , association (psychology) , public health , cross sectional study , depressive symptoms , occupational safety and health , gerontology , clinical psychology , psychiatry , psychology , cognition , nursing , pathology , psychotherapist
Background Workplace discrimination is associated with poor mental health. However, there is a lack of studies examining the effects of discrimination on depressive symptoms among firefighters. Methods We analyzed a national cross‐sectional survey of 6369 firefighters in South Korea. Workplace discrimination during the past year was measured and main reasons for the discriminatory experience (gender, birth region, age, education, field/office work, job division) were identified separately by gender and job division. Depressive symptoms during the previous week were measured by the CES‐D11. Results Overall, 30.3% of firefighters experienced workplace discrimination and the main reasons for discrimination differed by gender and job division. Firefighters who experienced workplace discrimination had a higher likelihood of depressive symptoms than those who did not after adjusting for potential confounders (PR: 1.73; 95%CI: 1.55, 1.92). Conclusions This finding suggests that experience of workplace discrimination could aggravate the mental health of firefighters who provide an important public service.