Effects of web-based supervisor training on job stressors and psychological distress among workers: a workplace-based randomized controlled trial.
Using workplaces as a unit for randomization, a randomized controlled trial was conducted to determine the effects of web-based supervisor training on the subject of worksite mental health on job stressors, supervisor support and psychological distress among subordinate workers. A total of eight workplaces of a sales and service company were randomly assigned to either training workplaces or non-training workplaces. Supervisors (n=23) at the training workplaces participated in web-based self-learning training on worksite mental health; supervisors (n=23) at the non-training workplaces did not. A total of 81 subordinate workers under the trained supervisors (the intervention group) and 108 subordinate workers under the non-trained supervisors (the control group) completed the Brief Job Stress Questionnaire (BJSQ) at baseline and at a three-month follow-up. No significant intervention effect was observed for any scale of the BJSQ measuring job stressors, supervisor or coworker support, or psychological distress among subordinate workers (p<0.05). The item score of work autonomy changed very little in the intervention group, while it decreased in the control group during the follow-up period, yielding a significant intervention effect (p=0.02). The item score for a friendly atmosphere in the workplace increased in the intervention group, while the score remained stable in the control group, yielding a significant intervention effect (p=0.02). While the present study failed to show any clear effect of the web-based training of supervisors on reduction of job stressors, it may be useful for maintaining worker autonomy and improving the friendliness of the worksite atmosphere.
Kawakami
Norito
N
Hygiene and Preventive Medicine, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Japan. norito@md.okayama-u.ac.jp
Takao
Soshi
S
Kobayashi
Yuka
Y
Tsutsumi
Akizumi
A
D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D007318:Inservice Training; D020407:Internet; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017132:Workplace / Q000523:psychology*