title: Work characteristics and personal social support as determinants of subjective well-being.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Well-being is an important health outcome and a potential national indicator of policy success. There is a need for longitudinal epidemiological surveys to understand determinants of well-being. This study examines the role of personal social support and psychosocial work environment as predictors of well-being in an occupational cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Social support and work characteristics were measured by questionnaire in 5182 United Kingdom civil servants from phase 1 of the Whitehall II study and were used to predict subjective well-being assessed using the Affect Balance Scale (range -15 to 15, SD = 4.2) at phase 2. External assessments of job control and demands were provided by personnel managers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Higher levels of well-being were predicted by high levels of confiding/emotional support (difference in mean from the reference group with low levels of confiding/emotional support  =  0.63, 95%CI 0.38-0.89, p(trend)<0.001), high control at work (0.57, 95%CI 0.31-0.83, p(trend)<0.001; reference low control) and low levels of job strain (0.60, 95%CI 0.31-0.88; reference high job strain), after adjusting for a range of confounding factors and affect balance score at baseline. Higher externally assessed work pace was also associated with greater well-being.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that the psychosocial work environment and personal relationships have independent effects on subjective well-being. Policies designed to increase national well-being should take account of the quality of working conditions and factors that facilitate positive personal relationships. Policies designed to improve workplaces should focus not only on minimising negative aspects of work but also on increasing the positive aspects of work.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Psychiatry, Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Stephen A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Stansfeld
authors.forename: Martin J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Shipley
authors.forename: Jenny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Head
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fuhrer
authors.forename: Mika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kivimaki
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom; D017132:Workplace / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology*