Occupational stress in (inter)action: the interplay between job demands and job resources

Summary The present study addresses theoretical issues involving different interaction effects between job demands and job resources, accompanied by a thorough empirical test of interaction terms in the demand–control (DC) model and the effort–reward imbalance (ERI) model in relation to employee health and well-being (i.e., exhaustion, psychosomatic health complaints, company-registered sickness absence). Neither the DC model nor the ERI model gives a clear theoretical rationale or preference for a particular interaction term. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted among 405 nursing home employees and cross-validated in a comparable sample (N ¼ 471). Results including cross-validation showed that only a multiplicative interaction term yielded consistent results for both the DC model and the ERI model. Theoretical as well as empirical results argue for a multiplicative interaction term to test the DC model and the ERI model. Future job stress research may benefit from the idea that there should be a theoretical preference for any interaction form, either in the DC model or in the ERI model. However, more research on interactions is needed to address this topic adequately. Copyright # 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.