epidemiology-2016_scientifictracks-abstracts

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Volume 6, Issue 5(Suppl) Epidemiology (Sunnyvale)
ISSN: 2161-1165 ECR, Open Access
Page 50
Notes:
Epidemiology 2016
October 3-5, 2016
conferenceseries.com
Epidemiology & Public HealthOctober 3-5, 2016|London, UK
4th International Conference on
DOES AN ADVANTAGEOUS OCCUPATIONAL POSITION MAKE WOMEN HAPPIER IN
CONTEMPORARY JAPAN?
Maki Umedaa
aSt. Luke’s International University, Japan
In contemporary Japanese society, occupational gender segregation persists despite increased numbers of women
participating in the labour market. The gender inequality in the labour market may yield different patterns of occupational
gradient in psychological health between men and women. We examined gender specific associations between occupational
position and psychological health in Japan and the potential mediating effect of job-control and effort-reward imbalance in
these associations. The data used for this inquiry was obtained from 7,123 men and 2,222 women, who participated in an
occupational cohort study, the Japanese Study of Health, Occupation, and Psychosocial Factors Related Equity (J-HOPE),
between 2011 and 2012. The prevalence of poor psychological health increased from manual/service occupations (23%) to
professionals/managers (38%) among women, while it did not vary by occupational position among men. In women, the
significant association between occupational position and psychological health was attenuated by effort–reward imbalance.
On the other hand, in both genders, the relatively high levels of job-control in professional/managerial groups were protective
against potentially higher levels of poor psychological health in these groups. Our findings suggest that Japanese women in
more advantaged occupational positions are likely to be at a greater risk for poor psychological health due to higher levels of
effort–reward imbalance at work. Ensuring gender equality in accessing rewards may be a critical component for promoting
psychological health of women in professional and managerial positions in Japan.
Biography
Maki Umeda has completed her PhD in 2013 at the University of Tokyo, and was a UCL Balzan Fellow from July 2014 to March 2015. She is an associate professor
at St. Luke’s International University School of Nursing, and has been publishing papers on social determinants of mental health. The study presented at this
conference was conducted in collaboration between the University of Tokyo and University College London, contributed by Dr. Anne McMunn, Dr. Noriko Cable,
and Prof. Michael Sir Marmot at University College London, and Prof. Hideki Hashimoto and Prof. Norito Kawakami at the University of Tokyo.
Maki Umeda, Epidemiology (Sunnyvale), 6:5(Suppl)