Workplace adaptation and proactive behavior among employees with psychiatric disabilities: A cluster analysis of employment retention

Abstract

Background

Workplace adaptation among employees with psychiatric disabilities is heterogeneous. This study identified workplace-adaptation profiles and examined their associations with proactive behavior and retention-relevant differences, particularly turnover intention.

Objective

To clarify distinctive characteristics of workplace adaptation by examining how proactive-behavior types are associated with workplace-adaptation profiles and whether those types differ across tenure categories.

Methods

Using survey data from Japanese private-sector companies and special-purpose subsidiaries with 1–3 years of organizational tenure, we conducted hierarchical agglomerative cluster analyses to derive workplace-adaptation profiles and proactive-behavior types and examined their associations, including with tenure categories.

Results

Three workplace-adaptation profiles were identified, representing distinct configurations of socialization, affective commitment, job satisfaction, and turnover intention, and proactive-behavior types showed patterned associations with these profiles. Higher proactive-behavior types were more frequent in the high-adaptation, low-turnover-intention profile, whereas lower proactive-behavior types were more common in profiles characterized by lower adaptation and higher turnover intention. Proactive-behavior types were not significantly associated with tenure categories within the restricted 1–3-year range.

Conclusions

Workplace adaptation among employees with psychiatric disabilities is heterogeneous, and proactive behavior is linked to workplace-adaptation profiles in patterned rather than uniform ways. These findings support profile-informed workplace support, although the results should be interpreted as correlational.