Psychosocial Working Conditions and Suicide Ideation: Evidence From a Cross-Sectional Survey of Working Australians.

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between psychosocial working factors such as job control, job demands, job insecurity, supervisor support, and workplace bullying as risk factors for suicide ideation. We used a logistic analytic approach to assess risk factors for thoughts of suicide in a cross-sectional sample of working Australians. Potential predictors included psychosocial job stressors (described above); we also controlled for age, gender, occupational skill level, and psychological distress. We found that workplace bullying or harassment was associated with 1.54 greater odds of suicide ideation (95% confidence interval 1.64 to 2.05) in the model including psychological distress. Results also suggest that higher job control and security were associated with lower odds of suicide ideation. These results suggest the need for organizational level intervention to address psychosocial job stressors, including bullying.