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Associations of Organizational Justice with Tinnitus and the Mediating Role of Depressive Symptoms and Burnout—Findings from a Cross-Sectional Study

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Abstract

Background

Tinnitus refers to the perception of a sound while an external source is absent. Research has identified work-related stress and its potential mental health-related sequelaes, i.e., depression and burnout, as risk factors for tinnitus. Perceived unfairness at work (organizational injustice), which is considered a psychosocial occupational stressor, has been shown to predict depression and burnout but its potential associations with tinnitus remains unaddressed.

Purpose

The aim was to determine the relationship of organizational injustice with tinnitus, and to examine depression and burnout as potential mediators.

Method

Cross-sectional data from a sample of 1632 employees were used. Tinnitus was assessed by self-report (n = 207; 13.9 %). Organizational justice and its subcomponents (interactional and procedural justice), burnout, and depressive symptoms were measured by validated questionnaires. Associations were assessed by logistic regressions, and mediation was assessed by maximum likelihood logistic regression estimations.

Results

Overall organizational justice, interactional and procedural justice were inversely related to tinnitus (z-score for overall justice: OR = 0.754; 95 % CI = 0.649 to 0.876). These associations were independent of demographics, socioeconomic status, job characteristics (including potential noise exposure), and health behaviors. Mediation analyses suggested a potential mediation by burnout (95 % CI indirect effect −0.188 to −0.066) and depressive symptoms (95 % CI indirect effect −0.160 to −0.043). Parallel multiple mediation analysis revealed that mediation through burnout was significantly larger than through depressive symptoms.

Conclusion

Organizational justice appeared inversely related to tinnitus and this association was explained by individual differences in burnout symptoms, suggesting mediation. Longitudinal studies may further help to strengthen the evidence base for prevention of tinnitus through promotion of organizational justice and prevention of burnout.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by a grant from Boehringer-Ingelheim GmbH.

Conflict of Interest

RM Herr, A Loerbroks, JA Bosch, M Seegel, M Schneider, and B Schmidt declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Informed Consent

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000. Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mannheim Institute of Public Health, Social and Preventive Medicine, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Ludolf-Krehl-Straße 7-11, 68167, Mannheim, Germany

    Raphael M. Herr, Jos A. Bosch, Max Seegel, Michael Schneider & Burkhard Schmidt

  2. Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Weesperplein 4, 1018 XA, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Raphael M. Herr & Jos A. Bosch

  3. Institute of Occupational and Social Medicine, Centre for Health and Society, Faculty of Medicine, University of Düsseldorf, Universitätsstrasse 1, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany

    Adrian Loerbroks

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  1. Raphael M. Herr
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Correspondence to Raphael M. Herr.

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Herr, R.M., Loerbroks, A., Bosch, J.A. et al. Associations of Organizational Justice with Tinnitus and the Mediating Role of Depressive Symptoms and Burnout—Findings from a Cross-Sectional Study. Int.J. Behav. Med. 23, 190–197 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-015-9505-z

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