Association between job insecurity and health-related quality of life: The moderator effect of social support in the workplace

Abstract

Background: Employee job insecurity negatively affects health outcomes, with limited research on the moderating role of workplace social support. Objective: This study examines the relationship between job insecurity and health-related quality of life among medical representatives, exploring the moderating effect of social support at work. Method: Cross-sectional data from 391 Turkish medical representatives during the pandemic were analyzed using correlation, logistic regression, and moderation analysis with SPSS for Windows and Hayes’ Process Macro. Results: 73.4% of the participants were male, with a mean age of 38.3 ± 6.7 years. According to multiple logistic regression analyses adjusted for age and gender, quantitative and qualitative job insecurity negatively [OR = 1.02 (95% CI = 1.00–1.03)] and social support positively [OR = 0.96 (95% CI = 0.95–0.98)] affected health-related quality of life. There was a moderately significant correlation between health-related quality of life and quantitative job insecurity, qualitatively job insecurity and social support in the workplace (r = −0.430, r = −0.477, r = 0.494), respectively. The moderating effect analysis has revealed that receiving social support in the workplace alleviates and reduces the negative impact of job insecurity on the health-related quality of life of employees. Social support in the workplace received by employees mitigates and reduces the negative impact of job insecurity on their health-related quality of life. Conclusion: Social support in the workplace plays an important role in buffering the negative consequences of job insecurity. According to this research, it is important to improve social support in the workplace to prevent negative health-related quality of life outcomes among medical representatives experiencing job insecurity.