Anxiety and depression in the working population using the HAD Scale: Psychometrics, prevalence and relationships with psychosocial work characteristics

The purposes of this study were: 1) to explore the psychometric properties of the HAD Scale in the working population, 2) to determine the prevalence of anxiety and depression on two severity levels among employees, and 3) to examine whether psychosocial work-related determinants for both categories...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 2004-08, Vol.39 (8), p.637-646
Main Authors: ANDREA, H, BÜLTMANN, U, BEURSKENS, A. J. H. M, SWAEN, G. M. H, VAN SCHAYCK, C. P, KANT, I. J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Anxiety
Anxiety Disorders - diagnosis
Anxiety Disorders - epidemiology
Biological and medical sciences
Cohort analysis
Cohort Studies
Cross-Sectional Studies
Depressive Disorder - diagnosis
Depressive Disorder - epidemiology
Disability
Employees
Epidemiology
Female
Humans
Male
Males
Medical sciences
Mental depression
Mental disorders
Mental health
Middle Aged
Netherlands - epidemiology
Occupational Diseases - diagnosis
Occupational Diseases - epidemiology
Personality Inventory - statistics & numerical data
Prospective Studies
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychometrics. Diagnostic aid systems
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Questionnaires
Regression Analysis
Response rates
Techniques and methods
Work environment
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Summary:The purposes of this study were: 1) to explore the psychometric properties of the HAD Scale in the working population, 2) to determine the prevalence of anxiety and depression on two severity levels among employees, and 3) to examine whether psychosocial work-related determinants for both categories of mental health problems may differ. Data were taken from 7482 employees participating in the epidemiological Maastricht Cohort Study on Fatigue at Work. Anxiety and depression were measured with the easy to administer self-report Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) Scale, while several questionnaires and self-formulated questions were used to measure psychosocial work-related characteristics. A principal component analysis indicated that the HAD Scale enables measuring anxiety and depression as separate constructs among employees. On a subclinical level, prevalences of anxiety and depression were both considerable: anxiety prevalences were 8.2 % for males and 10 % for females, and depression prevalences were 7.1% for males and 6.2% for females. Regarding self-reported psychosocial work characteristics, in multivariate regression analyses partly differential cross-sectional associations were found for anxiety and depression. The results indicate that subclinical anxiety and depression are considerable in the working population and provide suggestive evidence that diagnosing, preventing or managing anxiety and depression among employees may require focusing on different aspects of their psychosocial work environment.
ISSN:0933-7954
1433-9285
DOI:10.1007/s00127-004-0797-6