Employers across the country have been putting a lot more thought into their compensation programs in recent years, partially responding to the more-competitive market for talent, but also to increasing pay transparency among workers. Many have landed on a pay-for-performance model, which seems logical enough–at first glance.

A first-of-its-kind study from researchers at Washington University in St. Louis and Aarhus University in Denmark, found that a company that switches to a pay-for-performance process (which includes things like bonuses, commissions, piece rates, profit sharing, individual and team goal achievements or some other configuration) will also see a rise in the number of employees using anxiety and depression medication.