title: Non-listening and self centered leadership--relationships to socioeconomic conditions and employee mental health.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The way in which leadership is experienced in different socioeconomic strata is of interest per se, as well as how it relates to employee mental health.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three waves of SLOSH (Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health, a questionnaire survey on a sample of the Swedish working population) were used, 2006, 2008 and 2010 (n = 5141). The leadership variables were: "Non-listening leadership" (one question: "Does your manager listen to you?"--four response categories), "Self centered leadership" (sum of three five-graded questions--"non-participating", "asocial" and "loner"). The socioeconomic factors were education and income. Emotional exhaustion and depressive symptoms were used as indicators of mental health.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Non-listening leadership was associated with low income and low education whereas self-centered leadership showed a weaker relationship with education and no association at all with income. Both leadership variables were significantly associated with emotional exhaustion and depressive symptoms. "Self centered" as well as "non-listening" leadership in 2006 significantly predicted employee depressive symptoms in 2008 after adjustment for demographic variables. These predictions became non-significant when adjustment was made for job conditions (demands and decision latitude) in the "non-listening" leadership analyses, whereas predictions of depressive symptoms remained significant after these adjustments in the "self-centered leadership" analyses.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results show that the leadership variables are associated with socioeconomic status and employee mental health. "Non-listening" scores were more sensitive to societal change and more strongly related to socioeconomic factors and job conditions than "self-centered" scores.
authors.affiliation: Stress Research Institute, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden. tores.theorell@stressforskning.su.se
authors.forename: Töres
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Theorell
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nyberg
authors.forename: Constanze
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Leineweber
authors.forename: Linda L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Magnusson Hanson
authors.forename: Gabriel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Oxenstierna
authors.forename: Hugo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Westerlund
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004651:Employment; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007857:Leadership; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D016272:Occupational Health; D012649:Self Concept; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult