Investigating the Associations among Overtime Work, Health Behaviors, and Health: A Longitudinal Study among Full-time Employees

Abstract

BackgroundIt has often been suggested that high levels of overtime lead to adverse health outcomes. One mechanism that may account for this association is that working overtime leads to elevated levels of stress, which could affect worker’s behavioral decisions or habits (such as smoking and lack of physical activity). In turn, this could lead to adverse health.PurposeThe present study examined this reasoning in a prospective longitudinal design. Data from the prospective 2-year Study on Health at Work (N = 649) were used to test our hypotheses.MethodsStructural equation analysis was used to examine the relationships among overtime, beneficial (exercising, intake of fruit and vegetables) and risky (smoking and drinking) health behaviors, and health indicators (BMI and subjective health).ResultsWorking overtime was longitudinally related with adverse subjective health, but not with body mass. Moreover, working overtime was associated with lower levels of physical activity and intake of fruit and vegetables, but not with smoking and drinking. Finally, higher levels of risky and lower levels of beneficial health behaviors were longitudinally associated with ill health.ConclusionsThe relation between overtime and ill health is partly accounted for by the unhealthy lifestyle in which overworkers tend to engage. However, a direct longitudinal effect of overtime on health suggested that the effects of overtime on health may also partly be due to the sustained physiological activation that results from working overtime. Whereas working a moderate amount of overtime does not usually entail major health risks, these will increase with increasing overtime.

Working time and cigarette smoking: Evidence from Australia and the United Kingdom

“…Eleven of these (6 of the 7 studies summarised by van der Hulst, 2003;Albertsen et al, 2004;Mizoue et al, 2006;Lallukka et al, 2008;Taris et al, 2011;Macy et al, 2013) found no clear relationship between long working hours and smoking behaviour. All of these studies were based on between-person analysis.…”

“…They found that working long hours (41 hours or more a week) had no impact on smoking cessation. Taris et al (2011) examined the relationship between harmful behaviours (an index based on the combined intensity of smoking and alcohol consumption) and overtime working. They found no relationship between an increase in harmful behaviour and the number of overtime hours worked among a sample of 649 full-time employees in the Netherlands.…”

Occupational Health—Items on the Research Agenda

“…There are several factors that are associated with overtime work, from socioeconomic factors to individual coping behaviors. Tairs et al tested whether overtime work affected workers' health behaviors in their two-wave prospective study [3]. Their hypotheses were partially supported.…”

Overtime, Shift Work, Poor Sleep and the Effects on Obesity: A Public Health Problem

“…One study by Taris et al [26] examined the relationships between overtime, health behaviours and health outcomes to determine the mechanism behind these factors. The authors reported that higher overtime was associated with less health protective behaviours and lower subjective health.…”

“…It is likely that nutrition, physical activity and sleep are the primary behaviours negatively influenced by excess hours spent at work because they require the most conscious effort by an individual. These behaviours should be the target of future health promotion efforts [26].…”