Inconsistent social rhythms are associated with abdominal adiposity after involuntary job loss: An observational study

Abstract

Objective: Unemployment is an established risk factor for obesity. However, few studies have examined obesity-related health behavior after involuntary job loss specifically. Job loss confers a disruption in daily time structure that could lead to negative metabolic and psychological outcomes through chronobiological mechanisms. This study examines whether individuals with unstable social rhythms after involuntary job loss present with higher abdominal adiposity than individuals with more consistent social rhythms and whether this relationship varies as a function of depressive symptoms. Methods: Cross-sectional baseline data (n ¼ 191) from the ongoing Assessing Daily Activity Patterns in occupational Transitions (ADAPT) study were analyzed using linear regression techniques. Participants completed the Social Rhythm Metric-17 (SRM) daily over 2 weeks. They also completed the Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II) and participated in standardized waist circumference measurements (cm).Results: A significant interaction emerged between SRM and BDI-II demonstrating that less consistent social rhythms were associated with larger waist circumference at lower levels of depressive symptoms. Additional exploratory analyses demonstrated a positive association between the number of daily activities performed alone and waist circumference when controlling for symptoms of depression. Conclusion:These findings are the first to demonstrate a relationship between social rhythm stability and abdominal adiposity in adults who have recently, involuntarily lost their jobs. Results highlight the moderating role of depressive symptoms on daily routine in studies of metabolic health. Future prospective analysis is necessary to examine causal pathways.

The impact of social rhythm and sleep disruptions on waist circumference after job loss: A prospective 18‐month study

“…Social rhythms are operationalized as both the volume and daily variability in the timing of habitual daily activities, including work, social activities, meals, exercise, TV, and retiring to bed. Our group recently demonstrated that less consistent social rhythms were cross-sectionally associated with higher WC in nondepressed unemployed individuals [9]. These findings are consistent with research showing that the loss of daily social rhythms in children may be a significant factor for weight gain over summer breaks [10], when students often lose daytime routine and structure.…”

Behavioral-Social Rhythms and Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Retired Night Shift Workers and Retired Day Workers

“…However, behavioral-social rhythms have not been widely applied to other health outcomes, including CVD risk factors, with only a few studies exploring this area. For example, a study found that lower behavioral-social rhythm regularity was associated with larger waist circumference for individuals with lower levels of depressive symptoms after an involuntary job loss (28). Another study found that individuals who received an intervention that included a lifestyle component to stabilize behavioral-social rhythms had greater decreases in BMI compared with those who were assigned to a control group (43).…”

“…Beyond the occurrence of these behaviors, the regularity in the timing of these behaviors (i.e., behavioralsocial rhythm regularity) is hypothesized to contribute to the stable entrainment of endogenous circadian rhythms and promote better health outcomes (23)(24)(25)(26)(27). For example, worse behavioral-social rhythm regularity may increase risk for individual CVD risk factors like greater abdominal adiposity (28). These CVD risk factors (obesity, hypertension, impaired glucose tolerance, hypertriglyceridemia, and decreased highdensity lipoprotein [HDL] cholesterol) tend to co-occur in a condition called metabolic syndrome.…”