Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine

  • Volume 35
  • /
  • Pages.43.1-43.12
  • /
  • 2023
  • /
  • 1225-3618(pISSN)
  • /
  • 2052-4374(eISSN)
The Korean Society of Occupational & Environmental Medicine (대한직업환경의학회)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Association between exposure to violence, job stress and depressive symptoms among gig economy workers in Korea

  • Min-Seok Kim (Department of Occupational & Environmental Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine) ;
  • Juyeon Oh (Department of Public Health, Graduate School, Yonsei University) ;
  • Juho Sim (Department of Public Health, Graduate School, Yonsei University) ;
  • Byung-Yoon Yun (Department of Preventive Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine) ;
  • Jin-Ha Yoon (Institute for Occupational Health, Yonsei University College of Medicine)
  • Received : 2023.06.30
  • Accepted : 2023.10.24
  • Published : 2023.12.31
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

Background: Gig workers, also known as platform workers, are independent workers who are not employed by any particular company. The number of gig economy workers has rapidly increased worldwide in the past decade. There is a dearth of occupational health studies among gig economy workers. We aimed to investigate the association between exposure to violence and job stress in gig economy workers and depressive symptoms. Methods: A total of 955 individuals (521 gig workers and 434 general workers) participated in this study and variables were measured through self-report questionnaires. Depressive symptoms were evaluated by the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 when the score was greater than or equal to 10 points. The odds ratio with 95% confidence interval was calculated using multivariable logistic regression adjusted for age, sex, working hours, education level, exposure to violence and job stress. Results: 19% of gig economy workers reported depressive symptoms, while only 11% of general workers reported the depressive symptoms. In association to depressive symptoms among gig economy workers, the mainly result of odds ratios for depressive symptoms were as follows: 1.81 for workers type, 3.53 for humiliating treatment, 2.65 for sexual harassment, 3.55 for less than three meals per day, 3.69 for feeling too tired to do housework after leaving work. Conclusions: Gig economic workers are exposed to violence and job stress in the workplace more than general workers, and the proportion of workers reporting depressive symptoms is also high. These factors are associated to depressive symptoms. Furthermore, the gig workers associated between depressive symptoms and exposure to violence, job stress.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

We would like to thank Editage (www.editage.co.kr) for English language editing.

References

  1. Berg J, Hilal A, El S, Horne R. World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2021. Geneva, Switzerland: International Labour Organization; 2021. 
  2. Lepanjuuri K, Wishart R, Cornick P. The Characteristics of Those in the Gig Economy. London, England: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy; 2018. 
  3. Rudkjoebing LA, Hansen AM, Rugulies R, Kolstad H, Bonde JP. Exposure to workplace violence and threats and risk of depression: a prospective study. Scand J Work Environ Health 2021;47(8):582-90. https://doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.3976
  4. Rudkjoebing LA, Bungum AB, Flachs EM, Eller NH, Borritz M, Aust B, et al. Work-related exposure to violence or threats and risk of mental disorders and symptoms: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Scand J Work Environ Health 2020;46(4):339-49. https://doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.3877
  5. Dement JM, Lipscomb HJ, Schoenfisch AL, Pompeii LA. Impact of hospital type II violent events: use of psychotropic drugs and mental health services. Am J Ind Med 2014;57(6):627-39. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajim.22306
  6. Shields M. Stress and depression in the employed population. Health Rep 2006;17(4):11-29.
  7. Iacovides A, Fountoulakis KN, Kaprinis S, Kaprinis G. The relationship between job stress, burnout and clinical depression. J Affect Disord 2003;75(3):209-21. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0165-0327(02)00101-5
  8. Lin HS, Probst JC, Hsu YC. Depression among female psychiatric nurses in southern Taiwan: main and moderating effects of job stress, coping behaviour and social support. J Clin Nurs 2010;19(15-16):2342-54. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2702.2010.03216.x
  9. Jung PK, Won JU, Roh J, Lee JH, Seok H, Lee W, et al. Workplace violence experienced by substitute (daeri) drivers and its relationship to depression in Korea. J Korean Med Sci 2015;30(12):1748-53. https://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2015.30.12.1748
  10. Lee J, Park H, Oh J, Sim J, Lee C, Kim Y, et al. The association between replacement drivers and depressive symptoms. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2022;20(1):575.
  11. Craig TJ, Van Natta PA. Influence of demographic characteristics on two measures of depressive symptoms: the relation of prevalence and persistence of symptoms with sex, age, education, and marital status. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1979;36(2):149-54. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.1979.01780020039003
  12. Bannai A, Tamakoshi A. The association between long working hours and health: a systematic review of epidemiological evidence. Scand J Work Environ Health 2014;40(1):5-18. https://doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.3388
  13. Henningsen P, Zimmermann T, Sattel H. Medically unexplained physical symptoms, anxiety, and depression: a meta-analytic review. Psychosom Med 2003;65(4):528-33. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.PSY.0000075977.90337.E7
  14. Tran M, Sokas RK. The gig economy and contingent work: an occupational health assessment. J Occup Environ Med 2017;59(4):e63-6. https://doi.org/10.1097/JOM.0000000000000977
  15. Bajwa U, Gastaldo D, Di Ruggiero E, Knorr L. The health of workers in the global gig economy. Global Health 2018;14(1):124.
  16. Davis ME, Hoyt E. A longitudinal study of piece rate and health: evidence and implications for workers in the US gig economy. Public Health 2020;180:1-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2019.10.021
  17. Spitzer RL, Kroenke K, Williams JB. Validation and utility of a self-report version of PRIME-MD: the PHQ primary care study. JAMA 1999;282(18):1737-44. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.282.18.1737
  18. Fazel S, Wolf A, Chang Z, Larsson H, Goodwin GM, Lichtenstein P. Depression and violence: a Swedish population study. Lancet Psychiatry 2015;2(3):224-32. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(14)00128-X
  19. Madsen IE, Svane-Petersen AC, Holm A, Burr H, Framke E, Melchior M, et al. Work-related violence and depressive disorder among 955,573 employees followed for 6.99 million person-years. The Danish Work Life Course Cohort study: Work-related violence and depression. J Affect Disord 2021;288:136-44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2021.03.065
  20. Wang M, Liu S, Liao H, Gong Y, Kammeyer-Mueller J, Shi J. Can't get it out of my mind: employee rumination after customer mistreatment and negative mood in the next morning. J Appl Psychol 2013;98(6):989-1004.  https://doi.org/10.1037/a0033656
  21. Romswinkel EV, Konig HH, Hajek A. The role of optimism in the relationship between job stress and depressive symptoms. Longitudinal findings from the German Ageing Survey. J Affect Disord 2018;241:249-55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2018.08.005
  22. Thomas RD, Davis JW, Cuccaro PM, Gemeinhardt GL. Assessing associations between insecure income and US workers' health: An IPUMS-MEPS analysis. Soc Sci Med 2022;309:115240.
  23. Nishikitani M, Tsurugano S, Inoue M, Yano E. Effect of unequal employment status on workers' health: results from a Japanese national survey. Soc Sci Med 2012;75(3):439-51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.11.039
  24. Behrendt C, Nguyen QA, Rani U. Social protection systems and the future of work: Ensuring social security for digital platform workers. Int Soc Secur Rev 2019;72(3):17-41. https://doi.org/10.1111/issr.12212
  25. Flanagan F. Theorising the gig economy and home-based service work. J Ind Relat 2019;61(1):57-78. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022185618800518
  26. Moore PV. The Threat of Physical and Psychosocial Violence and Harassment in Digitalized Work. Geneva, Switzerland: International Labour Office; 2018. 
  27. Huws U, Joyce S. Size of Sweden's Gig Economy Revealed for the First Time-Crowd Working Survey. Brussels, Belgium: University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield and UNI Europa; 2016. 
  28. Katz LF, Krueger AB. The rise and nature of alternative work arrangements in the United States, 1995-2015. Ind Labor Relat Rev 2019;72(2):382-416. https://doi.org/10.1177/0019793918820008
  29. Muntaner C. Digital platforms, gig economy, precarious employment, and the invisible hand of social class. Int J Health Serv 2018;48(4):597-600. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020731418801413
  30. McKeown T, Pichault F. Independent professionals as talent: Evidence from individual views of working as a contractor. Hum Resour Manage 2021;60(2):313-28. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.22045
  31. Sammarra A, Profili S, Innocenti L. Do external careers pay-off for both managers and professionals? The effect of inter-organizational mobility on objective career success. Int J Hum Resour Manage 2013;24(13):2490-511. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2012.725076