The changing patterns of psychosocial exposures at work in the South of Europe: Spain as a labor market laboratory

Aims: To examine the pattern of psychosocial risk exposures at work among wage-earners in Spain in 2005 and 2010, and to analyze changes in exposure inequalities by gender and job category. Methods: Psychosocial exposures were compared using the COPSOQ-ISTAS21 method, based on two surveys representative of the Spanish wage-earning population (2005 and 2010). Statistical analysis was conducted using correspondence analysis. Results: There was an increase in exposure to high Double Presence, low Social Support, high Work Pace, and high Insecurity about finding a job; and reduction in exposure to high Insecurity about losing a job, and to high Insecurity over worsening of employment conditions. A gender- and occupation-related gradient was maintained. Conclusion: Although this study analyzes wage-earner "survivors" after the outbreak of the current economic crisis, it shows a worsening of harmful exposures to some psychosocial risks. In a context of job destruction, concerns about worsening working conditions appear to be subordinate to insecurity about job loss. Am. J. Ind. Med. 57:1032-1042, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.