Work-related factors

The health-based expulsion theory describes disability as the result of a circular process of diminishing health resources and increasing work demands. Accordingly, work-related disability cannot be understood without taking the perceived work environment into account.

According to the demand-control-support model, work stress is highest when the employee encounters high work demands with low personal control and little support from co-workers. Empirical studies have demonstrated the importance of these dimensions in explaining sickness absence. However, less is known about their role in disability pensioning.

The Swedish Job Content Questionnaire in HUSK will be used to study the links between self-reported work demands, control and social support in subsequent long-term sickness absence and disability pensioning, and we will examine how much of these effects are mediated by health and social factors.