Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T04:25:06.588Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Mental disorders and personality traits as determinants of impaired work functioning

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 January 2008

H. W. C. Michon ,
M. ten Have ,
H. Kroon ,
J. van Weeghel ,
R. de Graaf  and
A. H. Schene
H. W. C. Michon*
Affiliation:
Trimbos Institute (Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction), Utrecht, The Netherlands Altrecht Institute for Mental Health Care, Utrecht, The Netherlands
M. ten Have
Affiliation:
Trimbos Institute (Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction), Utrecht, The Netherlands
H. Kroon
Affiliation:
Trimbos Institute (Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction), Utrecht, The Netherlands
J. van Weeghel
Affiliation:
Trimbos Institute (Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction), Utrecht, The Netherlands
R. de Graaf
Affiliation:
Trimbos Institute (Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction), Utrecht, The Netherlands
A. H. Schene
Affiliation:
Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
*
*Address for correspondence: H. W. C. Michon, Ph.D, Trimbos Institute, PO Box 725, 3500 AS Utrecht, The Netherlands. (Email: [email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

Both mental disorders and personality characteristics are associated with impaired work functioning, but these determinants have not yet been studied together. The aim of this paper is to examine the impairing effects that mental disorders and personality characteristics (i.e. neuroticism, locus of control and self-esteem) have on work functioning.

Method

Data for a representative sample of 3570 working people were derived from the first two waves of the Netherlands Mental Health Survey and Incidence Study (NEMESIS), a prospective cohort study in the Dutch adult population.

Results

Higher neuroticism, more external locus of control and lower self-esteem were each significantly associated with subsequent impairment in work functioning, independently of any effects from mental disorders. Associations between mental disorders and subsequent work impairment disappeared once personality traits were taken into account. Personality traits did not moderate the relationships between mental disorders and work functioning.

Conclusions

Working people with vulnerable personalities have a greater risk of impaired work functioning, independent of the risk from any mental disorder they may have.

Keywords

Determinantslongitudinal cohort (study)mental disorderspersonalitywork functioning
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 38 , Issue 11 , November 2008 , pp. 1627 - 1637
Copyright
Copyright © 2008 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andrews, B (1998). Self-esteem. Psychologist 11, 339–342.Google Scholar
Anthony, WA, Liberman, RP (1986). The practice of psychiatric rehabilitation: historical, conceptual, and research base. Schizophrenia Bulletin 12, 542–559.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
APA (1987). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 3rd edn, revised. American Psychological Association: Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Bijl, RV, Ravelli, A, van Zessen, G (1998 a). Prevalence of psychiatric disorders in the general population: results of The Netherlands Mental Health Survey and Incidence Study (NEMESIS). Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 33, 587–595.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bijl, RV, van Zessen, G, Ravelli, A, de Rijk, C, Langendoen, Y (1998 b). The Netherlands Mental Health Survey and Incidence Study (NEMESIS): objectives and design. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 33, 581–583.Google Scholar
Broadhead, WE, Blazer, DG, George, LK, Tse, CK (1990). Depression, disability days, and days lost from work in a prospective epidemiologic survey. Journal of the American Medical Association 264, 2524–2528.Google Scholar
Buist-Bouwman, M, Ormel, J, de Graaf, R, Vollebergh, WAM (2004). Functioning after a major depressive episode: complete or incomplete recovery? Journal of Affective Disorders 82, 363–371.Google ScholarPubMed
Buist-Bouwman, MA, de Graaf, R, Vollebergh, WAM, Ormel, J (2005). Comorbidity of physical and mental disorders and the effect on work-loss days. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 111, 436–443.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Costa, PT Jr., Terracciano, A, McCrae, RR (2001). Gender differences in personality traits across cultures: robust and surprising findings. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 81, 322–331.Google Scholar
de Graaf, R, Bijl, RV, Ravelli, A, Smit, F, Vollebergh, WAM (2002). Predictors of first incidence of DSM-III-R psychiatric disorders in the general population: findings from the Netherlands Mental Health Survey and Incidence Study. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 106, 303–313.Google Scholar
de Graaf, R, Bijl, RV, Smit, F, Ravelli, A, Vollebergh, WA (2000). Psychiatric and sociodemographic predictors of attrition in a longitudinal study: The Netherlands Mental Health Survey and Incidence Study (NEMESIS). American Journal of Epidemiology 152, 1039–1047.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Jong, A, van der Lubbe, PM (2001). Groningse Vragenlijst over Sociaal Gedrag; Handleiding [Groningen Social Behaviour Questionnaire; Handbook]. Rob Giel Onderzoekcentrum and Rijksuniversiteit Groningen capaciteitsgroep psychiatrie: Groningen, The Netherlands.Google Scholar
de Jong, A, van der Lubbe, PM, Wiersma, D (1996). Social dysfunctioning in rehabilitation: classification and assessment. In Handbook of Mental Health Economics and Health Policy, vol. 1. Schizophrenia (ed. Moscarelli, M., Rupp, A. and Sartorius, N.), pp. 27–38. John Wiley: Chichester.Google Scholar
Dewa, CS, Lin, E (2000). Chronic physical illness, psychiatric disorder and disability in the workplace. Social Science and Medicine 51, 41–50.Google Scholar
Druss, BG, Schlesinger, M, Allen, HM Jr. (2001). Depressive symptoms, satisfaction with health care, and 2-year work outcomes in an employed population. American Journal of Psychiatry 158, 731–734.Google Scholar
Elinson, L, Houck, P, Marcus, SC, Pincus, HA (2004). Depression and the ability to work. Psychiatric Services 55, 29–34.Google Scholar
Erez, A, Judge, TA (2001). Relationship of core self-evaluations to goal setting, motivation, and performance. Journal of Applied Psychology 86, 1270–1279.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eysenck, HJ (1959). Manual of the Maudsley Personality Inventory. University of London Press: London.Google Scholar
Griffiths, A (2000). Designing and managing healthy work for older workers. Occupational Medicine (London) 50, 473–477.Google Scholar
Judge, TA, Bono, JE (2001). Relationship of core self-evaluation traits – self-esteem, generalized self-efficacy, locus of control, and emotional stability – with job satisfaction and job performance: a meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology 86, 80–92.Google Scholar
Judge, TA, Ilies, R (2002). Relationship of personality to performance motivation: a meta-analytic review. Journal of Applied Psychology 87, 797–807.Google Scholar
Judge, TA, van Vianen, AEM, de Pater, IE (2004). Emotional stability, core self-evaluations and job outcomes: a review of the evidence and an agenda for future research. Human Performance 17, 325–346.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kahn, AA, Jacobson, KC, Gardner, CO, Prescott, CA, Kendler, KS (2005). Personality and comorbidity of common mental disorders. British Journal of Psychiatry 186, 190–196.Google Scholar
Kendler, KS, Kuhn, J, Prescott, CA (2004). The interrelationship of neuroticism, sex, and stressful life events in the prediction of episodes of major depression. American Journal of Psychiatry 161, 631–636.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kessler, RC, Frank, RG (1997). The impact of psychiatric disorders on work loss days. Psychological Medicine 27, 861–873.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kessler, RC, Greenberg, P, Mickelson, K, Meneades, L, Wang, P (2001). The effects of chronic medical conditions on work loss and work cutback. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 43, 218–225.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Klein, MH, Wonderlich, S, Shea, MT (1993). Models of relationships between personality and depression: towards a framework for theory and research. In Personality and Depression; A Current View (ed. Klein, M. H., Kupfer, D. J. and Shea, M. T.), pp. 1–54. The Guilford Press: New York.Google Scholar
Kouzis, AC, Eaton, WW (1997). Psychopathology and the development of disability. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 32, 379–386.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Krabbendam, L, Janssen, I, Bak, M, Bijl, RV, de Graaf, R, van Os, J (2002). Neuroticism and low self-esteem as risk factors for psychosis. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 37, 1–6.Google Scholar
Laitinen-Krispijn, S, Bijl, RV (2000). Mental disorders and employee sickness absence: the NEMESIS study. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 35, 71–77.Google Scholar
Lim, D, Sanderson, K, Andrews, G (2000). Lost productivity among full-time workers with mental disorders. Journal of Mental Health Policy and Economics 3, 139–146.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Neeleman, J, Bijl, R, Ormel, J (2004). Neuroticism, a central link between somatic and psychiatric morbidity: path analysis of prospective data. Psychological Medicine 34, 521–531.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ormel, J, Oldehinkel, AJ, Nolen, WA, Vollebergh, W (2004 a). Psychosocial disability before, during, and after a major depressive episode: a 3-wave population-based study of state, scar, and trait effects. Archives of General Psychiatry 61, 387–392.Google Scholar
Ormel, J, Oldehinkel, AJ, Vollebergh, W (2004 b). Vulnerability before, during, and after a major depressive episode: a 3-wave population-based study. Archives of General Psychiatry 61, 990–996.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ormel, J, Rosmalen, J, Farmer, A (2004 c). Neuroticism: a non-informative marker of vulnerability to psychopathology. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 39, 906–912.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pearlin, LI, Schooler, C (1978). The structure of coping. Journal of Health and Social Behavior 19, 2–21.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rosenberg, M (1965). The Measurement of Self-esteem. Princeton University Press: Princeton, NJ.Google Scholar
Rotter, JB (1966). Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement. Psychological Monographs 80, 1–28.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Salgado, JF (1997). The five factor model of personality and job performance in the European community. Journal of Applied Psychology 82, 30–43.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schene, AH, Koeter, MWJ, Kikkert, MJ, Swinkels, JA, McCrone, P (2007). Adjuvant occupational therapy for work-related major depression works: randomized controlled trial including economic evaluation. Psychological Medicine 37, 351–362.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smeets, RWM, Dingemans, PMAJ (1993). Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI), version 1.1. World Health Organization: Amsterdam and Geneva.Google Scholar
ten Have, M, Oldehinkel, A, Vollebergh, W, Ormel, J (2005). Does neuroticism explain variations in care service use for mental health problems in the general population? Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 40, 425–431.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Twisk, JWR (2003). Applied Longitudinal Data Analysis for Epidemiology: A Practical Guide. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.Google Scholar
van der Klink, JJL, Blonk, RWB, Schene, AH, van Dijk, FJH (2000). The benefits of interventions for work-related stress. American Journal of Public Health 91, 270–276.Google Scholar
Wiersma, D, de Jong, A, Ormel, J (1988). The Groningen Social Disabilities Schedule: development, relationship with I.C.I.D.H., and psychometric properties. International Journal of Rehabilitation Research 11, 213–224.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wittchen, H-U (1994). Reliability and validity studies of the WHO Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI): a critical review. Journal of Psychiatry Research 28, 57–84.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
WHO (1990). Composite International Diagnostic Instrument (CIDI), version 1.0. World Health Organization: Geneva.Google Scholar