Association between workplace discrimination and depressive symptoms among firefighters in South Korea

• Published in: American journal of industrial medicine Vol. 61; no. 9; pp. 741 - 750
• Main Authors: Lee, Nagyeong, Kim, Ji‐Hwan, Kim, Ja Young, Kim, Seung‐Sup
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.09.2018
• Subjects: depressive symptoms; Discrimination; Employment discrimination; Firefighters; Gender; Mental disorders; Mental health; Occupational health; Public service; South Korea; workplace discrimination; South Korea; South Korea; workplace discrimination; depressive symptoms; firefighters
• ISSN: 0271-3586; 1097-0274
• DOI: 10.1002/ajim.22876

Background Workplace discrimination is associated with poor mental health. However, there is a lack of studies examining the effects of discrimination on depressive symptoms among firefighters. Methods We analyzed a national cross‐sectional survey of 6369 firefighters in South Korea. Workplace discrimination during the past year was measured and main reasons for the discriminatory experience (gender, birth region, age, education, field/office work, job division) were identified separately by gender and job division. Depressive symptoms during the previous week were measured by the CES‐D11. Results Overall, 30.3% of firefighters experienced workplace discrimination and the main reasons for discrimination differed by gender and job division. Firefighters who experienced workplace discrimination had a higher likelihood of depressive symptoms than those who did not after adjusting for potential confounders (PR: 1.73; 95%CI: 1.55, 1.92). Conclusions This finding suggests that experience of workplace discrimination could aggravate the mental health of firefighters who provide an important public service.