title: Relationships between organizational workplace characteristics and perceived workplace strain in call-centers in France.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Our objective was to study the associations between organizational workplace characteristics (OC) reported by call-center (CC) managers and workplace stressors reported by call-handlers.
  
  
  METHODS
  The managers of 107 CCs were interviewed by their occupational physicians using a questionnaire designed to specifically explore OC in the CCs. Four thousand two call-handlers from these CCs completed a self-report questionnaire including the Karasek and Siegrist work stressor questionnaires and two specific items on other workplace stressors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Around one-third of the OC examined were associated with the demand/control ratio, the perception of demanding work and ethical conflicts, however, far fewer OC were associated with the effort/reward ratio. Most OC were associated with higher levels of job stressors. Some had strong, systematic negative associations with stressors (e.g., highly formatted instructions for the client relationship).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings could help in targeting job stressor prevention and health improvement strategies in CCs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Occupational Health and Safety Institute (INRS), Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy, France.
authors.forename: Stéphanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Boini
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chouanière
authors.forename: Régis
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Colin
authors.forename: Pascal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wild
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002322:Career Mobility; D003132:Commerce; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D015277:Hotlines; D006801:Humans; D007221:Industry / Q000458:organization & administration*; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017009:Professional Autonomy; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016526:Workload / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017132:Workplace / Q000458:organization & administration; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Karasek; Siegrist; organizational characteristics; perceived workplace strain