ABSTRACT
Much research into the causes of occupational ill-health shows that negative work experience can have important health effects, and considerable research demonstrates that stress is a strong determinant of ill-health symptoms. This chapter examines the major determinants of somatic and emotional ill-health and the effects of sociostructural factors on ill-health. The greatest gender differences in emotional symptom reporting were among factory workers. Lowe and Northcott found that female postal workers experienced greater psychophysiological symptoms and depression than men. To test the level of symptom awareness for workers with different sociopsychological outcomes, symptom frequency was compared with low, medium, and high states of stress, low self-esteem, and low mastery. Symptom frequency is strongly associated with changes in levels of stress. No alienating work factors have an effect on symptom awareness for white-collar workers, and of all sociopsychological factors, only stress has an effect on white-collar employees.
