Psychological Distress in Relation to Employee Age and Job Tenure

Abstract

The present study examined psychological distress among workers at various stages of career development, with special reference to the first year of job tenure, the organizational socialization period. Measures of psychological and physical health, as well as demographic data, were obtained from 3,151 employed persons who participated in a national health interview survey conducted by the Census Bureau in 1978. Analysis of covariance was performed in which employee age and job tenure were predictor variables, and gender, marital status, educational level, and number of physical health conditions entered as covariates. The results indicated that distress was highest among workers with less than 6 months tenure, and distress levels decreased progressively with longer tenure. Employee age moderated these effects, however, in that older workers with less than 6 months tenure reported higher levels of distress than younger workers with similar tenure. Older workers also showed a delayed decrease in psychological distress with longer tenure than younger workers. The results identify organizational socialization as a critical period with respect to employee mental health.