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Stress Underestimation and Mental Health Outcomes in Male Japanese Workers: a 1-Year Prospective Study

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Abstract

Purpose

Being appropriately aware of the extent of stress experienced in daily life is essential in motivating stress management behaviours. Excessive stress underestimation obstructs this process, which is expected to exert adverse effects on health. We prospectively examined associations between stress underestimation and mental health outcomes in Japanese workers.

Methods

Web-based surveys were conducted twice with an interval of 1 year on 2359 Japanese male workers. Participants were asked to complete survey items concerning stress underestimation, depressive symptoms, sickness absence, and antidepressant use.

Results

Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that high baseline levels of ‘overgeneralization of stress’ and ‘insensitivity to stress’ were significantly associated with new-onset depressive symptoms (OR = 2.66 [95 % CI, 1.54–4.59], p < .01) and antidepressant use (OR = 4.91 [95 % CI, 1.22–19.74], p < .05), respectively, during the 1-year follow-up period.

Conclusions

This study clearly demonstrated that stress underestimation, including stress insensitivity and the overgeneralization of stress, could exert adverse effects on mental health.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C), No. 24530869, The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Health Administration and Psychosocial Factor Research Group, National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, 6-21-1 Nagao, Tama-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa, 214-8585, Japan

    Shuhei Izawa

  2. Center for Research on Human Development and Clinical Psychology, Hyogo University of Teacher Education, Hyogo, Japan

    Nanako Nakamura-Taira

  3. Emergency Care Center, Saga University Hospital, Saga, Japan

    Kosuke Chris Yamada

Authors
  1. Shuhei Izawa
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  2. Nanako Nakamura-Taira
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  3. Kosuke Chris Yamada
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shuhei Izawa.

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Funding

This study was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C), No. 24530869, The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in this study.

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Izawa, S., Nakamura-Taira, N. & Yamada, K.C. Stress Underestimation and Mental Health Outcomes in Male Japanese Workers: a 1-Year Prospective Study. Int.J. Behav. Med. 23, 664–669 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-016-9557-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-016-9557-8

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