SynthesisEuropean journal of epidemiology2021
Are depressive disorders caused by psychosocial stressors at work? A systematic review with metaanalysis.
Synthesis in European journal of epidemiology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Psychosocial Occupational Exposures and Mental Illness.Deutsches Arzteblatt international · 2022Pooled it
- Psychosocial work exposures and health outcomes: a meta-review of 72 literature reviews with meta-analysis.Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health · 2021Pooled it
- Mental health problems and suicidal behaviors in person-related work: a Swedish register-based cohort study.Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health · 2026Article
- Multidomain correlates of burnout: A population-based study using supervised machine learning.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2026Article
- Development of a European job exposure matrix (EuroJEM) for psychosocial exposures and their association with diagnosed depression in register-based cohorts.Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health · 2026Article
- Stressful work experience over time and depression in late midlife: results from a longitudinal cohort study in Germany.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2026Article
- Changes in exposure to positive leadership behaviours and subsequent changes in workers' depressive symptoms and risk of onset of antidepressant treatment.Occupational and environmental medicine · 2026Article
- Onset of exposure to workplace bullying and incident treatment with psychotropic medication - an emulated target trial with 25 309 Swedish and Danish employees.Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences · 2026Article
- A comparison among employees in Germany and Denmark of associations between quality of leadership and subsequent 5-year development of mental distress.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Longitudinal association of exposure to work-related stress with major depressive disorder and the role of occupational burnout in this association in the general population.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2025Article
- The Stress and Adversity Inventory for Adults (Adult STRAIN) in Korean: Initial Validation and Associations with Psychiatric Disorders.Brain sciences · 2024Article
- Fifty years of research on psychosocial working conditions and health: From promise to practice.Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health · 2024Review
- The overall fractions of coronary heart diseases and depression attributable to multiple dependent psychosocial work factors in Europe.International archives of occupational and environmental health · 2024Article
- An urgent call to address work-related psychosocial hazards and improve worker well-being.American journal of industrial medicine · 2024Review
- Can psychosocial risk factors mediate the association between precarious employment and mental health problems in Sweden? Results from a register-based study.Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health · 2024Article
- Associations between psychosocial work environment factors and first-time and recurrent treatment for depression: a prospective cohort study of 24,226 employees.Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences · 2024Article
- The changing nature of work in the 21st century as a social determinant of mental health.World psychiatry : official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) · 2024Article
- Mental and behavioral disorders related to work in Brazil: temporal trends and the impact of the Social Security Technical Nexus.Cadernos de saude publica · 2024Article
- Exploring exposure to multiple psychosocial work factors: prospective associations with depression and sickness absence.European journal of public health · 2023Article
- Psychological distress is more common in some occupations and increases with job tenure: a thirty-seven year panel study in the United States.BMC psychology · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
In the last decade, many studies have examined associations between poor psychosocial work environment and depression. We aimed to assess the evidence for a causal association between psychosocial factors at work and depressive disorders. We conducted a systematic literature search from 1980 to March 2019. For all exposures other than night and shift work and long working hours, we limited our selection of studies to those with a longitudinal design. We extracted available risk estimates for each of 19 psychosocial exposures, from which we calculated summary risk estimates with 95% confidence intervals (PROSPERO, identifier CRD42019130266). 54 studies were included, addressing 19 exposures and 11 different measures of depression. Only data on depressive episodes were sufficient for evaluation. Heterogeneity of exposure definitions and ascertainment, outcome measures, risk parameterization and effect contrasts limited the validity of meta-analyses. Summary risk estimates were above unity for all but one exposure, and below 1.60 for all but another. Outcome measures were liable to high rates of false positives, control of relevant confounding was mostly inadequate, and common method bias was likely in a large proportion of studies. The combination of resulting biases is likely to have inflated observed effect estimates. When statistical uncertainties and the potential for bias and confounding are taken into account, it is not possible to conclude with confidence that any of the psychosocial exposures at work included in this review is either likely or unlikely to cause depressive episodes or recurrent depressive disorders.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.