In a study published in the journal Sociology of Health & Illness on Tuesday, researchers found middle managers were significantly more likely to suffer symptoms of depression and anxiety than their counterparts at the top or bottom of the workplace hierarchy.
The researches studied data on nearly 22,000 people who work full time and participated in the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions, which involves in-person interviews with Americans 18 years and older.
After controlling for factors like age, gender and location, they found that the managers and supervisors had a much higher prevalence of depression and anxiety compared with those above and below them.
While nearly 19 percent of supervisors and 16 percent of managers were estimated to suffer from depression some time in their life, 12 percent of regular workers and 11 percent of owners did.
As for anxiety, supervisors (the middle managers who had less than a bachelor’s degree) were the worst off, with 11 percent suffering from anxiety as compared with 7 percent of managers, 5 percent of workers and a mere 2 percent of owners.
