Critical review of theoretical models linking work environment, stress and health: towards a meta-model

For more than fifty years, OH-related disciplines have witnessed the emergence of theoretical models explaining the impact of work environment on health. This paper provides a review of these models from a historical viewpoint. It also introduces a meta-theoretical framework enabling to characterise and compare them. Seventeen models were selected based on explicit criteria and described in accordance with the mediator and moderator variables they use, classified into categories (three for mediators and five for moderators). In short, over half the models include perceptual processes as mediators, whereas evaluative processes are more rarely included. As for moderators, individual characteristics prevail and are more frequently mobilised than those associated with work environment. The paper ends with a discussion of the limits of this conceptual framework.