Combined exposure of emotional labor and job insecurity on depressive symptoms among female call-center workers: A cross-sectional study

Call-center workers work under unfavorable psychosocial working conditions, including, emotional labor and job insecurity, which might be linked to depressive symptoms. The purpose of this study was to explore the link between emotional labor and depressive symptoms and to investigate the influence of combined exposure to emotional labor and job insecurity on depressive symptoms. A health survey was conducted among female call-center workers in Geumcheon-gu (a district in Seoul), South Korea, in November 2012. The short form of the Korean occupational stress scale was used to measure occupational stressors. A questionnaire with 8 items was employed to assess emotional labor. Depressive symptoms were estimated using the Korean Version of the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). The association of emotional labor and occupational stressors with depressive symptoms was assessed using multilevel mixed-effects logistic regression. Overall, 699 female call-center workers were enrolled into this study. The odds ratios of experiencing depressive symptoms in workers exposed to emotional labor and job insecurity were 5.45 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.38–8.80) and 2.37 (95% CI: 0.86–6.50), respectively. When workers were simultaneously exposed to excessive emotional labor and high job insecurity levels, the odds ratio of experiencing depressive symptoms was 10.13 (95% CI: 3.51–29.23). The Relative Excess Risk due to the Interaction (RERI) of job insecurity and emotional labor was 3.30 (95% CI: −5.50 to 12.11); however, this was not statistically significant (P = .46). Although a causal relationship could not be established due to the cross-sectional study design, the combined effect of emotional labor and job insecurity might have a serious influence on behavioral health among call-center female workers.