International Journal of Stress Management, Vol. 7, No. 4, 2000 The Demand-Control Model: Specific Demands, Specific Control, and Well-Defined Groups Jan de Jonge, 1,2,6 Maureen F. Dollard, 3 Christian Dormann, 4 Pascale M. Le Blanc, 1 and Irene L. D. Houtman 5 The purpose of this study was to test the Demand-Control Model (DCM), ac- companied by three goals. Firstly, we used alternative, more focused, and multi- faceted measures of both job demands and job control that are relevant and applicable to today’s working contexts. Secondly, this study intended to focus on particular demands in human services work and to incorporate these de- mands in the DCM. Finally, this occupation-based study investigated relatively large well-defined subgroups compared to a total sample. Workers from five human service sectors (n = 2,485) were included in a cross-sectional survey (i.e., health care, transport, bank/insurance, retail trade, and warehouse). Re- sults showed that job demands and job control are able to show several interac- tion effects on employee well-being and health, but only in specific occupational groups. In conclusion, the current findings provide renewed empirical support for the view that high-strain jobs (high demand, low control) are conducive to ill health (i.e., emotional exhaustion, psychosomatic health complaints). Further, it appears that active jobs (high demands, high control) give rise to positive out- comes (i.e., job challenge, job satisfaction). KEY WORDS: Demand-Control Model; human service workers; multi-sample analysis; employee well-being. 1 Department of Social and Organizational Psychology, Utrecht University, The Netherlands. 2 Department of Work and Organizational Psychology, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands. 3 School of Psychology, University of South Australia, Whyalla Campus, South Australia. 4 Department of Work and Organizational Psychology, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Frank- furt/Main, Germany. 5 TNO Work and Employment, Hoofddorp, The Netherlands. 6 Corresponce should be directed to Jan de Jonge, Department of Social and Organizational Psychol- ogy, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80.140, 3508 TC Utrecht, The Netherlands; e-mail: j.dejonge@ fss.uu.nl. 269 1072-5245/00/1000-0269/$18.00/0  2000 Human Sciences Press, Inc.