Job stress and coping strategies in patients with subjective food hypersensitivity

• Published in: Scandinavian journal of psychology Vol. 51; no. 2; pp. 179 - 184
• Main Authors: LIND, R., LILLESTØL, K., VALEUR, JØRGEN, ERIKSEN, H. R., TANGEN, T., BERSTAD, A., ARSLAN LIED, G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.04.2010
• Subjects: Adaptation, Psychological; Adult; coping strategies; Family Practice; Female; food hypersensitivity; Food Hypersensitivity - diagnosis; Food Hypersensitivity - immunology; Food Hypersensitivity - psychology; Humans; Illness Behavior; Immunoglobulin E - blood; Internal-External Control; Intradermal Tests; Job Satisfaction; Job stress; Male; Middle Aged; Occupational Diseases - psychology; Personality Inventory - statistics & numerical data; Psychometrics; Social Environment; Somatoform Disorders - psychology; Stress, Psychological - complications; subjective health complaints; Workload - psychology
• ISSN: 0036-5564; 1467-9450
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9450.2009.00761.x

Lind, R., Lillestøl. K., Valeur, J., Eriksen, H. R., Tangen, T., Berstad, A. & Arslan Lied, G. (2009). Job stress and coping strategies in patients with subjective food hypersensitivity. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 51, 179–184. Psychological distress may be causally related to multiple, unexplained somatic symptoms. We have investigated job stress, coping strategies and subjective health complaints in patients with subjective food hypersensitivity. Sixty‐four patients were compared with 65 controls. All participants filled in questionnaires focusing on job stress, job demands and control, work environment, coping strategies and subjective health complaints. Compared with controls, patients scored significantly lower on job stress and job demands, and significantly higher on authority over job decisions. Coping strategies and satisfaction with work environment did not differ significantly between the two groups, but the patients reported significantly more subjective health complaints than the controls. Scores on job stress and job demands were generally low in patients with subjective food hypersensitivity. It is unlikely, therefore, that the patients’ high scores on subjective health complaints are causally related to the work situation.