Network Approach to Work Addiction: A Cross-Cultural Study

Abstract

We aimed to estimate and compare networks of work addiction among Norwegian and Polish working individuals. The Bergen Work Addiction Scale was used to measure work addiction in four samples, two comprising responses of working Norwegians ( n1 = 16,426; n2 = 764) and two comprising responses of working Poles ( n3 = 719; n4 = 711). The networks were estimated jointly with the fused graphic lasso method. Additionally, we estimated symptoms’ centrality, symptoms’ predictability, and networks’ stability, as well as quantitatively compared the four networks. The results showed highly similar networks across the four samples. There were several strong direct relationships between symptoms. The most and the least central symptoms were Relapse and Mood modification, respectively. Mean symptom predictability varied between 22.6 and 28.3% across samples. We discussed the possible intervention strategies based on the obtained results.