Job stress and depressive symptoms among Japanese fire fighters.
BACKGROUND
Associations between job stresses, as assessed by theoretical job stress model and depressive symptoms among fire fighters have not been fully investigated. The purpose of this study is to clarify the factors of job stress that influence the depressive symptoms in Japanese fire fighters.


METHODS
The subjects involved 1,672 fire fighters from a local government. The questionnaire comprised age, gender, job type, job class, martial status, smoking, and drinking habit, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), and The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) generic job questionnaire.


RESULTS
A group showing depressive symptoms (CES-D > or = 16) included 373 subjects (22.3%). In a multivariate logistic regression analysis, high variance in workload, high intergroup conflict, high role conflict, and low self-esteem had significantly higher odds ratio for depressive symptoms.


CONCLUSIONS
High variance in workload, high intergroup conflict, high role conflict, and low self-esteem were significantly related to depressive symptoms among Japanese fire fighters. Further prospective studies are needed to clarify the influence of these stress factors on other health outcomes, and to elucidate whether alleviation of these stress factors improve the mental health among fire fighters.
Saijo
Yasuaki
Y
Department of Health Science, Asahikwa Medical College, Midorigaoka, E2-1-1-1, Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Japan. y-saijo@asahikawa-med.ac.jp
Ueno
Takeji
T
Hashimoto
Yoshihiro
Y
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000552:Ambulances; D044466:Asian People / Q000523:psychology*; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005390:Fires; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010555:Personality Inventory; D018635:Rescue Work; D012649:Self Concept; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014940:Work Schedule Tolerance; D016526:Workload / Q000523:psychology