Changes in perceived psychosocial working conditions after psychotherapeutic consultation at work – exploratory post-hoc analyses from a randomized controlled trial

Abstract Background Psychotherapeutic consultation at work (PT-A) is a low-threshold intervention providing early work-focused treatment to employees with symptoms of common mental disorders (CMD). This post-hoc analysis explores whether PT-A, compared with routine care, is associated with perceived reductions in job demands (i.e., quantitative and emotional demands, dissolution between work and private life) and improvements in job resources (i.e., decision authority, development opportunities, social support). Methods The exploratory post-hoc analysis used data from a multicenter randomized controlled trial in Germany. Five-hundred-fifty employees with a contract of ≥ 15 h/week and symptoms or a diagnosis of CMD were randomized 1:1 to the intervention or control group. After one participant withdrew consent, 279 participants remained in the intervention and 270 in the control group. Both groups received basic clinical assessment. Up to 16 work-focused PT-A sessions were offered to the intervention group over nine months, including work-related assessments, work-focused cognitive behavioral therapy and, if needed, support during return-to-work. Perceived job demands and resources were measured before randomization and 24 months later and were not pre-specified as trial outcomes in the study protocol and trial registration. Multiple linear regression analyses examined group differences in perceived working conditions at follow-up, controlling for covariates at baseline (i.e., age, gender, education, occupation, study centre, depressive symptoms, sickness absence days). Results Data from 231 participants were available for analysis (intervention: n = 137; control: n = 94; mean age: 46 years; 55% female). Participation in PT-A was associated with lower perceived emotional demands (b = 6.61, SE = 2.52, p = 0.009, adjusted p = .072) and dissolution (b = 5.05, SE = 2.52, p = 0.047, adjusted p = .164) at follow-up, but results did not remain statistically significant after Benjamini–Hochberg correction for multiple testing. No group differences were observed in perceived quantitative demands and job resources. Conclusions Results may indicate that participation in PT-A is associated with long-term reductions in perceived emotional demands and dissolution, but not with improvement in perceived job resources. Confirmative research is needed given the exploratory study design and because findings did not remain statistically significant after adjustment for multiple testing. Trial registration The study was registered on 1 March 2021 in the German Clinical Trials Register under the project-ID DRKS00023049 ( https://drks.de/search/de/trial/DRKS00023049 ).