Poor team spirit depressing - study

9 April 2009 12:03am

A lack of team spirit in the workplace makes people feel depressed, researchers have said.

Office workers who feel they cannot rely on their colleagues may be more likely to reach for anti-depressants, they said.

Experts led by Dr Marjo Sinokki at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health followed 3,347 employees aged between 30 and 64 for a period of three years.

Each employee was asked to rate the "atmosphere" in their working environment according to four descriptions. These were - encouraging and supportive of new ideas; prejudiced and conservative; nice and easy; or quarrelsome and disagreeable.

Each employee also noted their feelings about team spirit, communication and how much pressure they were under or how much control they had over their job. They were also asked about their social lives, where they lived and what kind of access they had to health services.

Their levels of depression, anxiety and use of alcohol were then analysed alongside whether they took prescription anti-depressant drugs.

Poor team spirit at work was significantly associated with depressive disorders.

Those workers who felt team spirit in the workplace was poor were 61% more likely to have a depressive disorder. This group was also 53% more likely to be taking anti-depressants.

No link was found with alcohol abuse or anxiety.

The authors, writing ahead of print in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, concluded: "A poor team climate at work is associated with depressive disorders and subsequent anti-depressant use."

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