Environmental and individual correlates of distress: Testing Karasek's Demand-Control model in 99 primary care clinical environments

Abstract

Objectives Karasek's job demand-control model postulates that demand, control, and distress are environmental rather than individual features although these levels are often confounded. The objective was to investigate whether job demand, control, and demand × control predict environmental and individual distress in primary care clinicians, and the mediating role of distress in the relationships between demand and control with intention to leave and absenteeism. Design Predictive national survey. Methods We invited 2,079 staff from 99 general practices in the United Kingdom (843 GPs and nurses, 1,236 administrators) to complete postal questionnaires assessing distress, intention to leave, ab..