Table 1 Occupations with low risk of developing psychological distress and related mental health conditions^a

Accountants

Grosch & Murphy (1998) [29]

0.39 (0.31–0.49), p < 0.0001

Architects

Agerbo et al. (2010) [37]; Fan et al. (2012) [16]; Shockey et al. (2017) [26]

0.09 (0.02–0.39), p = 0.0010

Directors, administrators

Agerbo et al. (2010) [37]; Fan et al. (2012) [16]; Grosch & Murphy (1998) [29]; Shockey et al. (2017) [26]; Stansfield et al. (2011) [17]

0.52 (0.48–0.56), p < 0.0001

Electricians

Eaton et al. (1990) [47]; Fan et al. (2012) [16]

0.41 (0.17–0.99), p = 0.0491

Engineers

Cadieux & Marchand (2014) [23]; Fan et al. (2012) [16]

0.53 (0.45–0.63), p < 0.0001

Farmers, fishery, forestry

Cohidon, Imbernon, & Gorldberg (2009) [48]; Fan et al. (2012) [16]; Roche et al. (2016) [49]; Shockey et al. (2017) [26]; Wang & Rosenman (2018) [22]

0.50 (0.39–0.65), p < 0.0001

Health aides

Fan et al. (2012) [16] [reported higher depression]

0.41 (0.18–0.92), p = 0.0304

Lawyers

Cadieux & Marchand (2014) [22]; Fan et al. (2012) [16]; Grosch & Murphy (1998) [29]

0.12 (0.02–0.88), p = 0.0367

Librarians

Fan et al. (2012) [16]; Shockey et al. (2017) [26]

(not applicable)^b

Medical doctors

Cadieux & Marchand (2014) [22]; Grosch & Murphy (1998) [29]; Shockey et al. (2017) [26]

0.50 (0.42–0.60), p < 0.0001

Nurses

Cadieux & Marchand (2014) [22]; Fan et al. (2012) [16]; Shockey et al. (2017) [26]

0.46 (0.38–0.55), p < 0.0001

Pharmacists

Cadieux & Marchand (2014) [22]; Grosch & Murphy (1998) [29]

0.14 (0.09–0.22), p < 0.0001

Plumbers and pipe fitters

Bültmann, et al. (2001) [50]

0.54 (0.17–1.76), p = 0.3102^b

Police officers

Eaton et al. (1990) [47]; Grosch & Murphy (1998) [29]

0.82 (0.67–0.98), p = 0.0336

Sales workers

Agerbo et al. (2010) [37]; Shockey et al. (2017) [26]

0.84 (0.74–0.95), p = 0.0059

Teachers

Agerbo et al. (2010) [37]; Grosch & Murphy (1998) [29]; Shockey et al. (2017) [26]

0.34 (0.30–0.39), p < 0.0001

Technicians

Agerbo et al. (2010) [37]; Grosch & Murphy (1998) [29]

0.65 (0.55–0.77), p < 0.0001