Richardson Robin A, Nandi Arijit, Jaswal Surinder, Harper Sam
Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, QC, H3A 1A2, Canada.
Institute for Health and Social Policy, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2017 Dec;52(12):1501-1511. doi: 10.1007/s00127-017-1448-z. Epub 2017 Oct 20.
High work demands might be a determinant of poor mental health among women in low- and middle-income countries, especially in rural settings where women experience greater amounts of labor-intensive unpaid work. Research originating from such settings is lacking.
We estimated the cross-sectional association between work demands and mental distress among 3177 women living in 160 predominantly tribal communities in southern Rajasthan, India. A structured questionnaire captured the number of minutes women spent on various activities in the last 24 h, and we used this information to measure women's work demands, including the total work amount, nature of work (e.g., housework), and type of work (e.g., cooking). Mental distress was measured with the Hindi version of the 12-item General Health Questionnaire. We used negative binomial regression models to estimate the association between work demands (amount, nature, and type) and mental distress.
On average, women spent more than 9.5 h a day on work activities. The most time, intensive work activity was caring for children, the elderly, or disabled (149 min). In adjusted models, we found a U-shaped association between work amount and mental distress. High amounts of housework were associated with higher distress, whereas paid work and farmwork amount were not. Certain types of housework, including collecting water and cleaning, were associated with increased distress scores.
We found an association between aspects of work demands and mental distress. Research in other contexts where women perform high amounts of unpaid work, particularly within the home or farm, is warranted.
高工作需求可能是低收入和中等收入国家女性心理健康不佳的一个决定因素，尤其是在农村地区，那里的女性从事大量劳动密集型的无薪工作。但缺乏来自此类环境的研究。
我们估计了印度拉贾斯坦邦南部160个主要为部落社区的3177名女性的工作需求与精神痛苦之间的横断面关联。一份结构化问卷记录了女性在过去24小时内花在各种活动上的分钟数，我们利用这些信息来衡量女性的工作需求，包括工作总量、工作性质（如家务）和工作类型（如烹饪）。使用12项一般健康问卷的印地语版本来测量精神痛苦。我们使用负二项回归模型来估计工作需求（数量、性质和类型）与精神痛苦之间的关联。
平均而言，女性每天花在工作活动上的时间超过9.5小时。耗时最长的高强度工作活动是照顾儿童、老人或残疾人（149分钟）。在调整后的模型中，我们发现工作总量与精神痛苦之间呈U形关联。大量的家务劳动与更高的痛苦程度相关，而有偿工作和农活量则不然。某些类型的家务劳动，包括取水和清洁，与痛苦得分增加有关。
我们发现工作需求的各个方面与精神痛苦之间存在关联。有必要在其他女性从事大量无薪工作的背景下进行研究，特别是在家庭或农场内部。
