Influence of occupational stress on mental health among Chinese off-shore oil workers.
OBJECTIVE
To explore the influence of occupational stress on mental health in off-shore oil production.


METHODS
A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 561 Chinese off-shore oil workers. The workers were invited to fill in a self-administered questionnaire exploring their socio-demographic characteristics, occupational stress levels, and 12-item general health questionnaire. A hierarchical multiple regression procedure was used to assess the effects of occupational stress on mental health.


RESULTS
After controlling for age, educational level, marital status and years of off-shore work, poor mental health was found to have a significant positive association with seven of the nine identified sources of occupational stress. They were: conflict between job and family/social life, poor development of career and achievement at work, safety problems at work, management problems and poor relationship with others at work, poor physical environment of the work place, uncomfortable ergonomic factors at work, and poor organizational structure at work. All of these occupational stress sources together explained 19.9% of the total variance.


CONCLUSIONS
The results confirmed that occupational stress was a major risk factor for poor mental health among Chinese off-shore oil workers. Reducing or eliminating occupational stressors at work would benefit workers' mental health.
Chen
Wei-Qing
WQ
Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China. chenwq@mail.sysu.edu.cn
Wong
Tze-Wai
TW
Yu
Tak-Sun
TS
D000328:Adult; D002681:China; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D019652:Extraction and Processing Industry; D006801:Humans; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D016272:Occupational Health; D010578:Petroleum; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications* / Q000517:prevention & control; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014940:Work Schedule Tolerance; D055815:Young Adult
D010578:Petroleum