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Owner/managers of small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) are an under-researched population in terms of psychological distress and the associated health and economic consequences. Using baseline data from the evaluation of the Business in Mind program, a mental health promotion intervention amongst SME owner/managers, this study investigated: (i) prevalence of high/very high psychological distress, past-month sickness absenteeism and presenteeism days in SME owner/managers; (ii) associated, self-reported lost productivity; and (iii) associations between work, non-work and business-specific factors and work attendance behaviours. In our sample of 217 SME owner/managers 36.8% reported high/very high psychological distress. Of this group 38.7% reported past-month absenteeism, 82.5% reported past-month presenteeism, and those reporting presenteeism were 50% less productive as than usual. Negative binomial regression was used to demonstrate the independent effects of socio-demographic, work-related wellbeing and health-related factors, as well as various individual and business characteristics on continuous measures of absenteeism and presenteeism days. Health-related factors (self-rated health and treatment) were the strongest correlates of higher presenteeism days (p < 0.05). Work-related wellbeing factors (job tension and job satisfaction) were the strongest correlates of higher absenteeism days (p < 0.05). Higher educational attainment, treatment and neuroticism were also correlated with more absenteeism days. SME-specific information about the occurrence of psychological distress, work attendance behaviour, and the variables that influence these decisions, are needed for the development of guidelines for managing psychological distress within this sector. © 2013 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	depression, workplace, absenteeism, presenteeism, productivity, SMEs
Research Division:	Health Sciences
Research Group:	Health services and systems
Research Field:	Mental health services
Objective Division:	Health
Objective Group:	Specific population health (excl. Indigenous health)
Objective Field:	Occupational health
UTAS Author:	Cocker, F (Dr Fiona Cocker)
UTAS Author:	Martin, A (Professor Angela Martin)
UTAS Author:	Scott, J (Professor Jenn Scott)
UTAS Author:	Venn, A (Professor Alison Venn)
UTAS Author:	Sanderson, K (Associate Professor Kristy Sanderson)
ID Code:	87870
Year Published:	2013
Web of Science® Times Cited:	67
Deposited By:	Menzies Institute for Medical Research
Deposited On:	2013-12-12
Last Modified:	2021-07-02
Downloads:	524 View Download Statistics