Breaking ground on mental health: Understanding financial insecurity and job demand in construction

Mental health challenges in the construction industry are well documented, yet how North American workers interpret the origins and consequences of dominant workplace stressors remains insufficiently understood. This study employed a sequential, two-stage design in which an initial survey was used to identify stressors warranting deeper examination, followed by qualitative focus groups exploring workers’ explanations for those stressors. Study 1 surveyed 499 construction workers across the United States and Canada to identify work-related stressors rated as most consequential to mental health, which guided the focus of Study 2. Study 2 involved nine focus groups with 68 field workers and examined how these stressors are experienced and understood within the construction context. Thematic analysis highlighted financial insecurity and job demand as being shaped by macroeconomic uncertainty, job insecurity, and volatile project schedules. By elucidating how workers attribute the origins of these stressors, the findings clarify the limits of individual-level mental health interventions and inform more appropriately aligned organizational and industry-level strategies.