Long Working Hours Indirectly Affect Psychosomatic Stress Responses via Complete Mediation by Irregular Mealtimes and Shortened Sleep Duration: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: Long working hours are detrimental to physical and mental health. However, the association between long working hours and psychosomatic symptoms have remained controversial, possibly because of the existence of mediators between working hours and psychosomatic stress responses. We hypothesized that lifestyle habits, regarding sleep and mealtimes, act as mediators, and analyzed the associations between long working hours, sleep duration, mealtime regularity, and psychosomatic stress responses in office workers. Methods: From April 2017 to March 2018, an online cross-sectional survey regarding overtime work hours, work-related stress, sleep, and eating habits was conducted with employees of 17 companies located in Tokyo, Japan. Answers were obtained from 3559 employees, and 3100 provided written consent for the academic use of their answers, and were included in the analysis. A path analysis was conducted to assess the effect of overtime work on psychosomatic stress via shortened sleep or irregular mealtimes. Results: Overtime work hours had no direct effect on psychosomatic stress responses and depressive symptoms. However, overtime work hours affected sleep duration and the regularity of mealtimes. The effects of overtime work hours on psychosomatic stress responses and depressive symptoms were completely mediated by sleep duration and the regularity of mealtimes. Conclusion: Long working hours do not affect mental health directly; however, shortened sleep duration and irregular mealtimes mediate the effect of long working hours on psychosomatic stress responses and depressive symptoms.

Long Working Hours, Work-life Imbalance, and Poor Mental Health: A Cross-sectional Mediation Analysis Based on the Sixth Korean Working Conditions Survey, 2020–2021

“…9 Firstly, a previous study demonstrated that insufficient sleep and irregular mealtimes could act as mediators in the association between working hours and mental health conditions. 46 Secondly, elevated occupational stress caused by long working hours can potentially contribute to poor mental well-being. 47 Thirdly, from a physiological perspective, long A c c e p t e d V e r s i o n 11 working hours may cause a dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, potentially leading to the development of mental health disorders.…”

The association of long working hours and short sleep duration on mental health among Japanese physicians

“…Additionally, a cross-sectional study of 2,643 full-time employees of small-and medium-scale companies in Japan found that depression associated with long working hours was primarily a result of sleep deprivation 8) . Another crosssectional study of 3559 employees from 17 companies in Tokyo showed the effect of overtime on psychosomatic stress due to short sleep duration 9) . Additionally, a cross-sectional study of Taiwanese healthcare workers, including physicians, found that working hours were associated with burnout, and the association was partially mediated by sleep hours 22) .…”

“…Sleep deprivation may be caused by long working hours, sleep problems, or simply by spending less time in bed 7) . Previous cross-sectional studies among general workers have suggested that mental health problems associated with long working hours are the result of short sleep duration 8,9) . However, no studies have examined the association between the combination of long working hours and sleep duration, and mental health among physicians 10) .…”

“…Although a lower score indicates greater stress and a psychological and physical stress score ≤12 represents a high-stress status 13) , the number of physicians with a score ≤12 was too small (n=11) in this study. Therefore, we divided the psychological and physical stress score into quartiles, and defined the lowest quartile (6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16) as "high-stress status." The CES-D Scale, which is widely used as a clinical screening tool for the presence of depressive symptomatology 14) , is a 20-item self-rated questionnaire assessing the frequency of depressive symptoms experienced over the past week.…”

Influencing factors of work stress of medical workers in clinical laboratory during COVID-19 pandemic: Working hours, compensatory leave, job satisfaction

“…Higher rates of sick leave associated with long night shifts may result in additional costs or lost productivity for hospitals (50). Working long hours does not directly affect mental health; However, it will indirectly affect psychosomatic stress reaction and depressive symptoms through factors such as shortened sleep time and irregular meal time (51). Working hours are significantly related to psychological stress response.…”