Psychosocial factors and gender as predictors of symptoms associated with sick building syndrome

Abstract

Sick building syndrome (SBS) refers to a cluster of symptoms that typically worsen when employees are at work and diminish when they leave. A higher prevalence of symptoms is frequently observed among female employees. Although its aetiology is debated, evidence suggests that psychosocial factors might be at least as important as features of the working environment in predicting SBS symptoms. Utilizing a sample of 346 office-based employees (55 per cent female) located in five buildings with no known environmental problems, this study examined job control, job satisfaction, work-related mood and negative affectivity as predictors of self-reported symptoms typical of SBS. The role played by gender in symptom-reporting was also investigated. Findings revealed that employees who experienced more symptoms reported significantly less job control and job satisfaction and more work-related depression and anxiety. A positive relationship was also observed between symptom-reporting and negative affectivity. In contrast to previous research, no gender differences were observed in the prevalence of self-reported symptoms, but men and women differed in the predictors of symptoms and the proportion of variance explained. The findings suggest that demographic and psychosocial factors, as well as features of the objective physical environment, should be considered in future investigations of SBS. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.