How does lowering psychosocial risks influence sickness absence? A prospective cohort study analyzed as a quasi-experiment.

Reducing psychosocial stressors can lower the occurrence of long-term sickness absence, but the associations differ by age group. Younger workers benefit more from enhancing job rewards, while older workers benefit more from lowering job demands and increasing job control. To establish the causal impact of psychosocial risk reduction on sickness absence across age groups, future research should employ randomized controlled trials as the methodological approach.