Job quality and construction workers’ mental health: A life span developmental perspective

Abstract

The research aimed to examine whether the factors that impact manual/nonmanagerial construction workers' mental health change with age. Specifically the research sought to identify, compare and contrast the characteristics of job quality that are related to mental health in three groups of construction workers in varying age brackets (young, middle-aged and older). Data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey was analysed to explore the relationship between job quality and health in Australian manual/non-managerial construction workers. Drawing on a life span developmental perspective, participants were divided into groups according to their age. Longitudinal statistical analysis was conducted to examine the association between four identifiable aspects of job quality and participants' self-reported mental health. The relationships varied by age groups, suggesting that psychosocial risk factors shape construction workers' health differently as they transition from an exploration phase (young workers), through an establishment phase (middle-aged workers) to a maintenance phase (older workers). The findings highlight the need to develop targeted approaches to protecting and promoting the mental health of construction workers in different age groups.