Women working in emotionally demanding jobs with inadequate workplace support face a 47 per cent increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to the latest European research.
The Swedish study, which assessed millions of workers, revealed that person-contact roles involving direct interaction with patients, customers, clients and students carry significant health risks.
Published in Occupational & Environmental Medicine, the study's researchers found that high emotional demands were associated with a 24 per cent heightened diabetes risk for women.
The figure then almost doubled, jumping to 47 per cent, when combined with low social support from managers and colleagues, indicating that the stress of managing emotions in public-facing roles can have serious metabolic health consequences.
High emotional demands were associated with a 24 per cent heightened diabetes risk for women
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The research analysed data from the Swedish Work, Illness, and labour-market Participation cohort, tracking approximately three million workers aged between 30 and 60 from 2005 to 2020.
Scientists examined three dimensions of person-contact roles: general contact with people, emotional demands from dealing with individuals facing serious problems, and confrontation levels.
During the 15-year-long study, 216,640 participants developed type 2 diabetes, with 60 per cent being men.
The research team used job exposure matrices based on Swedish Work Environment Surveys to assess workplace conditions across 20 job roles in sectors including healthcare, education, service industries, hospitality, social work, law, security and transport.
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High levels of exposure to emotional demands and confrontation were associated with 20 per cent and 15 per cent heightened risks of type 2 diabetes respectively in men, while women faced 24 per cent and 20 per cent increased risks.
The associations between these dimensions and diabetes were notably stronger among workers with low workplace social support compared to those with high support levels.
For women, the heightened risk linked to general contact with people disappeared after researchers accounted for job control levels.
Those who developed diabetes during the study period tended to be older, more likely to have been born outside Sweden, and had lower education levels and reduced job control compared to those who remained healthy.
Those diagnosed with diabetes during the study tended to be older
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The researchers explained their findings, saying: "With regards to having contact with people at work, there are expectations for emotional management where workers are required to express or hide emotions according to societal, occupational and organisational norms.
"It is especially stressful when the displayed emotion and the genuinely felt emotion are not aligned."
They added that healthcare professionals and social workers "take responsibility for the fundamental human needs of clients and witness human suffering, and in most cases, there is no reciprocity in relations with clients and patients".
The biological mechanisms could involve chronic stress affecting the neuroendocrine system, leading to excessive cortisol production, increased insulin resistance, and decreased insulin secretion and sensitivity.
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