BACKGROUND:The complex position of a first line manager is characterized by heavy workload and contradictory demands. 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 within psychiatric and addiction care.

METHOD:In the present study, interviews with ten managers in for-profit psychiatric and addiction care in Sweden were analyzed with a phenomenographic approach.

RESULTS:The managers experiences of demand and control implied varied and extensive responsibilities for a wide range of professions; regulation by organizational, economic, and political frameworks; creating balance in their work; and handling the emergence and consequences of acute crisis. These experiences of demand and control involved high and contradictory demands together with coexisting high and low levels of control. Many of their work characteristics could be described in terms of both demand and control.

CONSLUSION:The first line managers experiences of demand and control are more complex than implied by the job demand control theory. Our results suggest that the organizational position and branch should be considered when identifying health hazards in the work environment of first line managers.