It takes two to tango: personal and organizational resilience as predictors of strain and cardiovascular disease risk in a work sample

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Cardiovascular Disease Research
• Psychosomatic Medicine

Background:

• Job stress models (job demand-control-support, effort-reward imbalance) are crucial for understanding employee well-being.
• Cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk is influenced by a complex interplay of occupational stressors and individual factors.
• Integrating genetic and modifiable risk factors with job stress models offers a comprehensive view of CVD risk.

Purpose of the Study:

• To amalgamate and expand existing job stress models.
• To investigate the relationship between job demand, resilience (job and personal), and psychosomatic strain.
• To examine employer and employee factors contributing to cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk indicators.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study of 428 employees.
• Structural equation modeling was employed to analyze the relationships between variables.
• Key constructs included job demand, job resilience, personal resilience, psychosomatic strain, and CVD risk indicators.

Main Results:

• Negative job demand perception predicted a lack of job resilience, but not personal resilience.
• Both job and personal resilience significantly predicted psychosomatic strain.
• Women reported higher levels of strain compared to men.
• CVD risk was associated with strain, age, sex, and family history.

Conclusions:

• Job and personal resilience are critical mediators between job demands and psychosomatic strain.
• Occupational health interventions should address both workplace factors and individual resilience.
• Understanding the multifactorial nature of CVD risk, including occupational and genetic elements, is essential for effective prevention strategies.