title: Childhood general mental ability and midlife psychosocial work characteristics as related to mental distress, neck/shoulder pain and self-rated health in working women and men.
abstract: Psychosocial work characteristics including high demands, lack of control and poor social support have consistently been linked to poor health as has poor general mental ability (GMA). However, less is known about the relationships between stable individual factors such as GMA, psychosocial work characteristics and health.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The present study investigated how childhood mental ability and psychosocial work characteristics relate to health in terms of mental distress, neck/shoulder pain (NSP) and self-rated health (SRH).
  
  
  METHODS
  Data on childhood GMA, occupational level, self-reports of demands, control and social support and health (mental distress, NSP and SRH) in midlife came from working women (n=271) and men (n=291) included in a Swedish school cohort. Hierarchical regression analyses, controlling for occupational level, were used to examine associations between childhood GMA, self-reports of high demands, low control and poor social support and the three health indicators. Taking into consideration the gendered labor market and variations in health patterns between women and men, gender specific analyses were performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were no significant associations between childhood GMA and health indicators. Further, there were no significant interactions between GMA and psychosocial work factors. As regards the strength of the associations between GMA, psychosocial work factors and health, no consistent differences emerged between women and men.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In a cohort of healthy and working middle-aged women and men, self-reports of current psychosocial work characteristics seem to be more strongly linked to health, than are stable childhood factors such as GMA.
authors: Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Sweden.
authors: Cornelia
authors: C
authors: Wulff
authors: Petra
authors: P
authors: Lindfors
authors: Magnus
authors: M
authors: Sverke
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019547:Neck Pain / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D057566:Self Report; D012737:Sex Factors; D020069:Shoulder Pain / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D012944:Social Support; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology