PSYCHOSOCIAL-ASPECTS OF OCCUPATIONAL INJURY

The authors examined the association between a number of factors (individual predisposition, psychosocial stress, job dissatisfaction) and accidents at work and the neurotic disability that may follow them. The concept of individual proneness and of environmental stress are discussed in the light of the relevant literature. Data was collected from an automotive industrial plant in Ontario and from a large department store in Toronto during 1974 and 1975. A questionnaire including a list of life events, a job dissatisfaction scale and a brief mental health rating scale was used. Data from the company medical records as well as an assessment by the plant physician at the time of the accident were also included. A positive past history of medical, surgical, psychiatric episodes and accidents significantly differentiated between a group of workmen which had accidents and controls that did not. Job dissatisfaction was related to the probability of missing excessive time from work and of developing a neurotic complication after an accident. The authors concluded that accidents are part of a larger pattern of surgical, medical and psychiatric episodes in the life of a particular individual and that job dissatisfaction as an index of occupational stress tends to have an adverse effect on the overall psychological response and recovery following accidents. © 1979 Springer-Verlag.