The Demand-Control-Support model and intent to leave across six European countries: the role of employment opportunities

In this paper, the explanatory power of the Demand-Control-Support (DCS) model for intent to leave (ITL) a job was tested, with employment opportunities (EO) taken into consideration. It was hypothesized that, when employment opportunities are low, the explanatory power of the DCS model for ITL is low because workers have no possibility of finding a new job despite the stressful characteristics of their current one. Analyses were performed on 16,052 female nurses from six European countries who were participating in the Nurses' Early Exit Study (NEXT). A country's unemployment rate and perceived employment opportunities were measures of EO. The results of multivariate regression analyses revealed that (controlling, among other things, for type of work contract) demands were related to ITL irrespective of EO. However, control and social support were more strongly related to ITL: (1) in countries with low (versus high) unemployment rate, and (2) among individuals with high (versus low) perceived employment opportunities. The DCS model, in its additive version (the main effects of the three dimensions), had better explanatory power for ITL in low unemployment rate countries only. The results suggest that employment opportunities may influence the explanatory power of the DCS model in relation not only to intent to leave but also to other outcomes.