Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba.
Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba.
Tohoku J Exp Med. 2019 Sep;249(1):57-64. doi: 10.1620/tjem.249.57.
Non-regular employment is increasing and its mental health impact is a globally important problem. In Japan, non-regularly employed researchers are increasing, especially within young age groups, because employment quotas were not sufficiently expanded against rapid increasing number of doctorate holders. It is therefore important to understand the relationship between non-regular employment and mental health. The significance of our research is to contribute to the improvement of researchers' mental health by clarifying the influence of employment status on psychological distress. We conducted a cross-sectional, web-based survey in 2017 via an anonymous, self-administered questionnaire distributed to workers in Tsukuba Science City, Japan. The survey questionnaire items included employment status, psychological distress, occupational stress, sex, age, and income. We analyzed 2,762 valid responses in two categories (1,850 regular employment, 912 non-regular employment) and two subcategories based on age according to the definition of "young researcher" by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (20-39 years vs. 40-59 years). Psychological distress was defined as a total K6 score of 5 or greater. Binomial logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for psychological distress. Non-regular employment was significantly associated with psychological distress in the age 20-39 group but not in the age 40-59 group. At the age 20-39 group, a negative association was shown between psychological distress and reward from work (i.e., pride in their job, ability utilization, and sense of accomplishment). Support to increase psychological work rewards may be important in reducing psychological distress for young non-regularly employed researchers.
非正规就业正在增加，其对心理健康的影响是一个全球性的重要问题。在日本，非正规就业的研究人员越来越多，尤其是在年轻群体中，因为就业配额没有随着博士毕业生人数的快速增长而充分扩大。因此，了解非正规就业与心理健康之间的关系非常重要。我们研究的意义在于通过明确就业状况对心理困扰的影响，为改善研究人员的心理健康做出贡献。我们于 2017 年在日本筑波科学城通过匿名、自我管理的问卷进行了一项横断面、基于网络的调查。调查问卷包括就业状况、心理困扰、职业压力、性别、年龄和收入。我们根据厚生劳动省（MHLW）对“年轻研究人员”的定义，在两个年龄组（20-39 岁，40-59 岁）和两个子类别中分析了 2762 份有效回复（1850 名正规就业，912 名非正规就业）。心理困扰定义为 K6 总分 5 或更高。二项逻辑回归用于计算心理困扰的优势比和 95%置信区间。非正规就业与 20-39 岁年龄组的心理困扰显著相关，但与 40-59 岁年龄组无关。在 20-39 岁年龄组，工作回报与心理困扰呈负相关（即对工作的自豪感、能力利用和成就感）。增加心理工作回报的支持可能对减少年轻非正规就业研究人员的心理困扰很重要。
