Influence of Parenting Quality and Neuroticism on Perceived Job Stressors and Psychological and Physical Stress Response in Adult Workers from the Community

Abstract

Tomoteru Seki,1,2 Akiyoshi Shimura,1 Hitoshi Miyama,1 Wataru Furuichi,1 Kotaro Ono,1 Jiro Masuya,1 Yuko Odagiri,3 Shigeru Inoue,3 Takeshi Inoue1 1Department of Psychiatry, Tokyo Medical University, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0023, Japan; 2Fuji Psychosomatic Rehabilitation Institute Hospital, Fujinomiya, Shizuoka 418-0035, Japan; 3Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Tokyo Medical University, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-8402, JapanCorrespondence: Akiyoshi ShimuraDepartment of Psychiatry, Tokyo Medical University, 6-7-1 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0023, JapanTel [phone]Fax [phone]Email [email protected]: The complex interaction between parenting styles, job stressors, and the stress response has not been clarified to date. We hypothesized that neuroticism acts as a mediator in the effects of parenting quality on perceived job stressors and the psychological and physical stress response (PPSR), and tested this hypothesis using covariance structure analysis.Subjects and Methods: We conducted research between April 2017 and April 2018 on 597 adult from the community, and 69 subjects were excluded owing to missing data or nonworkers. Finally, a total of 528 participants were analyzed using the following self-administered questionnaires: the Parental Bonding Instrument, the shortened Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised, and the Brief Job Stress Questionnaire (BJSQ). The data were analyzed by single regression analyses and covariance structure analyses. Job stress was assessed by the BJSQ and 2 subscales, ie, perceived job stressors and the PPSR. This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Tokyo Medical University.Results: On covariance structure analysis, high parental overprotection was associated with high neuroticism and high PPSR directly, but had no significant effect on perceived job stressors. High parental overprotection was associated with high-perceived job stressors and the high PPSR indirectly through enhanced neuroticism. High parental overprotection was also associated with the high PPSR indirectly through 2 combined paths of neuroticism and perceived job stressors. This model accounted for 40% of the variability of the PPSR. On the other hand, parental care had opposite effects to parental overprotection, and this model of parental care accounted for 39% of the variability of PPSR. The model fits of the 2 models were good.Conclusion: Our results suggest that the quality of parenting in childhood is associated with perceived job stressors and the PPSR indirectly through neuroticism.Keywords: parental care, parental overprotection, neuroticism, job stress, covariance structure analysis, structural equation model

Keywords

• parental care
• parental overprotection
• neuroticism
• job stress
• covariance structure analysis
• structural equation model