Lotte, Thorup; Christine, Leonhard, Birk Sørensen

Abstract

Objective: Mental health problems are increasing public health problems in the world today. International studies suggest that imbalance – or conflict – between work and private life can be a risk factor for mental health problems, and that socio-economic status, social support and gender can influence the relationship. However, this has mostly been studied in specific groups, such as health care personnel The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between Work-Life-Conflict (WLC) and both perceived stress and depressive symptoms in early adulthood in a Danish population-based cohort, as well as the influence of gender, socioeconomic status and social support meant for this relationship.

Material and methods: Both a cross-sectional study and a 4-year follow-up study were conducted, which were based on register and questionnaire data from the Danish cohort study, VestLiv. The study population consisted of participants who in 2017 (age: 28 years) had answered questions about both exposure (WLC) and outcome (self-perceived stress and depressive symptoms) as well as co-variates (n=1303), and who at follow-up had data on outcome (n=682). The association between WLC and self-perceived stress was analyzed with multiple linear regression, and the association between WLC and depressive symptoms was analyzed with multiple logistic regression. Effect modification of socio-economic status, social support and gender was examined. The analyzes were stratified by gender and adjusted for social support, employment type, living status, education, equivalized household income and shift work.

Results: An association was found between WLC and both self-perceived stress and depressive symptoms for both sexes. The associations were strongest in the cross-sectional analyses. No effect modification of socio-economic status, social support or gender was found.

Conclusion: WLC may be a relevant element in the prevention of perceived stress and depressive symptoms among people in the Danish labor market. No funding received.

Camilla Sandal Sejbaek; Ida E. H. Madsen; Esben Meulengracht Flachs; Jens Peter Bonde; Johan Høy Jensen; Ingrid Sivesind Mehlum; Reiner Rugulies; Sandra Søgaard Tøttenborg; Karin Sørig Hougaard

Abstract

Objective: We aimed to investigate if exposure to emotional demands or physical violence at work during pregnancy increase the risk of miscarriages, small for gestational age (SGA), and preterm birth (PTB).

Material and Methods: The population, DOC*X-Generation, consisted of employed pregnant women (1977-2018). We assessed the exposure to occupational emotional demands and physical violence based on job exposure matrices. Both exposures were grouped into tertiles and linked to each woman via their job code during pregnancy (Danish version of the International Standard Classification of Occupations 88). Information on miscarriages, SGA and PTB (singletons) was retrieved from the Danish National Patient Register and the Danish Medical Birth Register, respectively. Data including confounders were analysed with logistic regression models resulting in adjusted odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI).

Results: We analysed 1,921,890 million pregnancies resulting in 13% miscarriages and 1,482,493 pregnancies with 5% preterm births in approximately one million unique women. Women occupied in jobs with high emotional demands and high physical violence had higher odds of miscarriage compared to those occupied in jobs with low exposure; OR=1.20 (95% CI 1.18-1.21) and OR=1.24, (95% CI 1.23-1.26), respectively. The findings concerning emotional demands and physical violence in relation to SGA and PTB were all OR<1 (ORs 0.91-0.99).

Conclusion: This study suggests that exposure to occupational emotional demands and physical violence during pregnancy is associated with higher odds of miscarriage, but not SGA and PTB. The results indicate that employers should recognise and consider psychosocial working conditions that pregnant women experience. This study is one of the first to investigate these aspects of the psychosocial working conditions more studies are needed.

Funding: Working Environment Research Fund (Project no. 20-2018-09).

Brendan Churchill, Constanze Leineweber, Leah Ruppanner, Linda L Magnusson Hanson, Tania King

Abstract

Background: Australian households with both parents in paid employment has been increasing over the last decades, with growing numbers of dual-earner couples and working parents with dependent children. These shifts have led to increased household and work responsibilities. This presents challenges in organising work and non-work responsibilities around children which may impact parents’ mental health.

Methods: In this longitudinal population-based cohort study, data across 21 waves of the Household, Income, and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey were used to employ within person fixed effects regression analysis to examine associations between work-family conflict and mental health in working-age (aged 25–64 years) Australian adults with parental responsibilities for children 14 years of age and under. Mental health was assessed using the MHI-5 scale. Both dimensions of the work-family conflict (work to family and family to work) were interrogated, as were the gender differences.

Results: Of the 10,130 participants (58,064 observations) across waves 2001-2021 of the HILDA survey who were working-age parents engaged in paid employment with children ≤14 years, 7,264 participants (46,527 observations) with at least two waves of data and non-missing data and were included in the analyses. Increasing work to family conflict was negatively associated with mental health in both women (β coefficient = -1.37 (95% CI: -1.56, -1.19)) and men (β coefficient = -1.37 (-1.55, -1.18)). While increasing family to work conflict was associated with worse mental health in women (β coefficient = -0.66 (-0.82, -0.49)), the association for men was stronger (β coefficient = -0.97 (-1.14, -0.80)).

Conclusion: Both work to family conflict and family to work conflict are independently associated with adverse mental health for women and men. More attention needs to be devoted to identifying and implementing strategies to enable working parents to cope with or reduce work-family conflict.

Johannes Siegrist Max Rohrbacher Hans Martin Hasselhorn

Abstract

Objective: While the longitudinal relationship between work stress and depression is well investigated with a single stress exposure measurement, there is a lack of studies that have investigated this relationship with repeated stress exposure measurements. This study aims to close this gap by analyzing the effect of repeated stress exposure on the development of depression in middle-aged employees.

Material and Methods This analysis is based on representative data from 3104 socially insured employees born in 1959 and 1965 who were employed in Germany in the first (2011) and second wave (2014) of the lidA (leben in der Arbeit) cohort study. Work stress was measured by the three scales of the effort-reward imbalance (ERI) model (effort (E), reward (R), work overcommitment (WOC)), and the control component of the job strain model. Depression was assessed by Beck’s Depression Inventory. We used Generalized Estimation Equations (GEE) for longitudinal analysis, adjusting for socio-demographic and work-related characteristics and physical health. To reduce potential bias due to selection effects the analysis was weighted.

Results During the three-year observation period, 7.9% of respondents developed clinically relevant depression. In the GEE model, repeated exposure measurement showed a comparably significant increased risk ratio for the ER-ratio (RR (high vs. low tertile): 2.49; 95%-CI: 1.67-3.71) and for WOC (RR (high vs. low): 2.49; 95%-CI: 1.88-3.30), but not for control in relation to the development of depression after adjustment for the control variables. In addition, significantly higher risks for depression were found for women compared to men, for poor compared to good health and for part-time compared to full-time employment.

Conclusion This study found a comparable increased risk of depression associated with repeated exposure to ERI and WOC during mid-working age. These results may be useful for the development of sustainable workplace strategies for the prevention of work-related stress.