To What Extent Does Exposure to Psychosocial Risks Impact Workers' Mental Health? Evidence from France

Background: Mental health disorders is increasingly the result of adverse working conditions. In several European countries, ever more workers are reporting work-related mental health problems and stressful working conditions. This paper aims to assess the impact of exposure to psychosocial risks (PSRs) at work on French workers' mental health. Methods: The research is based on the French "Health and employment history" survey and focuses on workers employed in the private sector in 2010. Exposure to PSR is measured using a job-demands index, a decision-latitude index and their combination as a job-strain index. We use symptoms of major depressive episodes (MDEs) as a measure of workers' mental health. Results: Results from a simple Probit Model show that individuals in demanding jobs have a significantly higher probability of suffering from MDEs than individuals less exposed to the demands of work. We find similar results for decision latitude with a smaller effect on mental health. These results are confirmed when we control for potential endogeneity of PSRs through an instrumentation strategy. Indeed, among workers, the probability of suffering from MDEs increases with job-demands and decision-latitude exposure, from less than 2% among the bottom decile on the exposure scale to more than 8% among the top decile. Conclusion: This study confirms with econometric methods that exposure to PSR is a crucial phenomenon for companies to consider in order to preserve workers' health and especially mental health that play an important role for the maintenance of employment and the return to employment.