This is a proposal to investigate the impact of the physical and psychosocial characteristics of paid employment on a variety of physical and mental health outcomes from midlife to ages 63-64 using data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS). The WLS has followed a cohort of some 10,000 Wisconsin high school graduates since 1957. The goal of the project is to explain the ways in which physical and psychosocial job characteristics mediate relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and health among women and men. It will also explore the roles of job satisfaction, psychological well-being, and other factors as mediators in the relationships between job attributes and health. The proposed analyses will use data on detailed job conditions and health from the 1975-77, 1992-93, and 2002 waves of the WLS. Most health measures are self-reports of symptoms and diagnosed medical conditions, but data from state workers' compensation files will be incorporated as well. The proposal addresses three analytic questions, described in the specific aims: First, how do job characteristics affect health? Specifically, how do the physical and psychosocial characteristics of jobs influence general/overall health, depression, and cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, and stress-related health problems and medical conditions? Second, how do Quality of Working Life (QWL) factors mediate the relationships between job characteristics and health? It is hypothesized that QWL factors - including job satisfaction, psychological well being, and the relationship between work and family life - play an important role in mediating the effects of job characteristics on health. Third, how are the cumulative characteristics of jobs across the career related to health among the near elderly? The first phase of the analysis will examine the impact of job characteristics as measured in 1975, 1992, and 2002 on health as measured in 1992 and 2002, both in cross-section and longitudinally. However, the analysis will also assess the cumulative health impact of ob characteristics (and changes in job characteristics) from 1975 through 2002. The analyses will develop structural equation models that test hypotheses derived from each of the specific aims.
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