Psychosocial Determinants of Presenteeism at the Workplace in the Pre - COVID-19 Era in A Southern European Country - The Mediating Role of Mental Health and Wellbeing

Introduction: The impact of organizational stressors on presenteeism at individual and organizational levels, mediated by workers Psychological Wellbeing (PWB) acting as a buffering effect, in the pre-COVID-19 era, is reported. We hypothesize that individual wellbeing is the pathway through which organizational stress affects presenteeism.
Methods: A study was conducted between November 2012 and June 2013 and data correspond to a non-randomised sample of 405 employees at a private financial institution in Lisbon area. The Portuguese version of ASSET (A Shortened Stress Evaluation Tool), a self- report instrument validated for the Portuguese population, measuring individual’s perceptions regarding stress, and Psychological Wellbeing (PWB) at work, was applied. ASSET’s Work Relationships (WR), Aspects of the Job (YJ), Overload (OL), Control (CL), Job Security (JS), Resources and Communication (RC) and Work-Life Balance (WLB) dimensions were used, and PWB of ASSET health scale was used as mediator. Presenteeism was obtained with an item measure from the World Health Organization’s Health and Work Performance Questionnaire. Mediation analysis was tested using Structural Equation Modelling with AMOS software.
Results: The results suggest that RC have a positive impact on absolute presenteeism strongly mediated by PWB. In addition, the effect of WLB and YJ, respectively a positive and negative effect on presenteeism, partially occurs through PWB. Finally, JS has a significant negative effect on presenteeism that is not mediated by PWB. Other dimensions such as CL, WR and OL did not reveal as significant predictors.
Conclusions: Implications are discussed on mental health promotion and mental disorder prevention at the workplace within public mental health. The role of PWB on presenteeism and productivity and the need of further studies in the pandemic and post-COVID-19 era are highlighted.