This study examined both risk factors for the onset of work-family conflict and consequences in terms of need for recovery and prolonged fatigue for men and women separately. Two-year follow-up data from the Maastricht Cohort Study on "Fatigue at Work" (n = 12,095) were used. At baseline, the prevalence of work-family conflict was 10.8% (9.0% in women; 11.1% in men), the cumulative incidence at 1 year follow-up was 5.1%. For men, several work-related demands, shift work, job insecurity, conflicts with coworkers or supervisor, having full responsibility for housekeeping, and having to care for a chronically ill child or other family member at home were risk factors for the onset of work-family conflict, whereas decision latitude and coworker and supervisor social support protected against work-family conflict. In women, physical demands, overtime work, commuting time to work, and having dependent children were risk factors for work-family conflict, whereas domestic help protected against work-family conflict at 1 year follow-up. Work-family conflict was further shown to be a strong risk factor for the onset of elevated need for recovery from work and fatigue.

This study examined the concept of need for recovery, that is the need to recuperate from work-induced fatigue, experienced after a day of work. The study explored the relationship between need for recovery from work, prolonged fatigue, and psychological distress in the working population. A cross-sectional study was carried out. Data of the Maastricht Cohort Study on fatigue at work were used (n = 12,095). Some degree of need for recovery was found in nearly all employees. Need for recovery from work was associated with demographic, work-related, and health factors. Principal Components Analysis revealed obvious separation between need for recovery items and both fatigue items and psychological distress items, supporting the notion that need for recovery, fatigue, and psychological distress represent different underlying concepts. Although need for recovery, fatigue, and psychological distress were frequently comorbid, they also clearly occurred as separate entities.

In this paper working hours, patterns and work schedules of employees were evaluated in terms of need for recovery from work. Self-administered questionnaire data from employees of the Maastricht Cohort Study on Fatigue at Work (n = 12,095) were used. Poisson regression analyses and multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed that higher working hours a day and working hours a week generally went together with more need for recovery from work. Overtime work was particularly associated with higher need for recovery from work in both genders. Both male and female three-shift or irregular shift workers had higher odds of elevated need for recovery compared to day workers. When additionally controlling for work-related factors, need for recovery levels among shift workers substantially lowered. This study clearly showed that working hours and schedules are associated with need for recovery from work, with different associations for men and women. Especially the associations between work schedules and need for recovery from work were very interrelated with other work-related factors. Future studies could further investigate the possibility that shift work might function as a proxy of other work-related factors that explain the different levels in need for recovery from work, or that job demands are perceived higher among shift workers and may therefore lead to more need for recovery from work.

No abstract