BACKGROUND: The complex position of a first line manager is characterized by heavy workload and contradictorydemands. Little is known about how first line managers experience demand and control in their work.
OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to explore experiences of demand and control among first line managers withinpsychiatric and addiction care.
METHOD: In the present study, interviews with ten managers in for-profit psychiatric and addiction care in Sweden wereanalyzed with a phenomenographic approach.RESULTS: The managers experiences of demand and control implied varied and extensive responsibilities for a wide rangeofprofessions; regulation by organizational, economic, and political frameworks; creating balance in their work; and handlingthe emergence and consequences of acute crisis. These experiences of demand and control involved high and contradictorydemands together with coexisting high and low levels of control. Many of their work characteristics could be described interms of both demand and control.
CONSLUSION:The first line managers experiences ofdemand and control are more complex than implied by the job demandcontrol theory. Our results suggest that the organizational position and branch should be considered when identifying healthhazards in the work environment of first line managers.