Short Communication the Relationship between Job Status, Gender and Work-Related Stress amongst Middle-Aged Employees in a Computer Manufacturing Company

Abstract

Work-related stress has been noted as a risk factor in the development of coronary heart disease. Karasek et al. have proposed two scales of ‘decision latitude’ (DL) and ‘job demand’ (JD) to measure the magnitude of work-related stress, and found that people with high JD and low DL showed an increased incidence of ischemic heart disease11). Johnson et al. have proposed a revised model of work-related stress which included ‘work-related social support’ (SS) as another scale. Low scores of SS were associated with increasing incidence of and mortality from coronary heart disease2). Re-cently, Kawakami et al3) introduced a Japanese language version of the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) formulated by Karasek. The aim of the present study is to examine the relationship between job status, gender and work-related stress measured using the Karasek model. © 1995, Japan Society for Occupational Health. All rights reserved.