title: Effort-reward imbalance at work and the co-occurrence of lifestyle risk factors: cross-sectional survey in a sample of 36,127 public sector employees.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In occupational life, a mismatch between high expenditure of effort and receiving few rewards may promote the co-occurrence of lifestyle risk factors, however, there is insufficient evidence to support or refute this hypothesis. The aim of this study is to examine the extent to which the dimensions of the Effort-Reward Imbalance (ERI) model--effort, rewards and ERI--are associated with the co-occurrence of lifestyle risk factors.
  
  
  METHODS
  Based on data from the Finnish Public Sector Study, cross-sectional analyses were performed for 28,894 women and 7233 men. ERI was conceptualized as a ratio of effort and rewards. To control for individual differences in response styles, such as a personal disposition to answer negatively to questionnaires, occupational and organizational-level ecological ERI scores were constructed in addition to individual-level ERI scores. Risk factors included current smoking, heavy drinking, body mass index > or =25 kg/m2, and physical inactivity. Multinomial logistic regression models were used to estimate the likelihood of having one risk factor, two risk factors, and three or four risk factors. The associations between ERI and single risk factors were explored using binary logistic regression models.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After adjustment for age, socioeconomic position, marital status, and type of job contract, women and men with high ecological ERI were 40% more likely to have simultaneously > or =3 lifestyle risk factors (vs. 0 risk factors) compared with their counterparts with low ERI. When examined separately, both low ecological effort and low ecological rewards were also associated with an elevated prevalence of risk factor co-occurrence. The results obtained with the individual-level scores were in the same direction. The associations of ecological ERI with single risk factors were generally less marked than the associations with the co-occurrence of risk factors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study suggests that a high ratio of occupational efforts relative to rewards may be associated with an elevated risk of having multiple lifestyle risk factors. However, an unexpected association between low effort and a higher likelihood of risk factor co-occurrence as well as the absence of data on overcommitment (and thereby a lack of full test of the ERI model) warrant caution in regard to the extent to which the entire ERI model is supported by our evidence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Helsinki, POB 9, FIN-00014, Finland. anne.kouvonen@helsinki.fi
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kouvonen
authors.forename: Mika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kivimäki
authors.forename: Marianna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Virtanen
authors.forename: Tarja
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Heponiemi
authors.forename: Marko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Elovainio
authors.forename: Jaana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pentti
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Linna
authors.forename: Jussi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vahtera
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004651:Employment / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D006801:Humans; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008019:Life Style; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008960:Models, Psychological; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016272:Occupational Health; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012201:Reward; D012307:Risk Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology; D016526:Workload / Q000523:psychology