Working shifts and mental health – findings from the British Household Panel Survey (1995–2005)

Night Work and the Risk of Depression

“…In men, the correlation disappeared after adjustment for psychosocial working conditions (17). In another case, the association between shift work and depression is found only for men working night shifts and women working alternating shifts (18), for white-collar but not blue-collar workers (19), or not at all after adjustment for psychosocial working conditions (20). However, a supplementary metaanalysis also indicates an increased risk (risk estimate: 1.42; [0.92, 2.42]) (eFigure).…”

“…In contrast, studies that drew their samples from the general population and thus from a wide variety of occupations did find an increased risk of depressive disorders in some subgroups over a long observation period (more than 4 years) (17)(18)(19)(20). These studies examined workers who differed from each other in terms of country and culture, training and profession, psychosocial working conditions, socioeconomic status, and other characteristics that have a wide range of effects on the risk of depressive disorders.…”

“…Five publications find a correlation between shift work and an increase in depressive symptoms or onset of depression during the observation period, at least in some subgroups (16)(17)(18)(19)(20). Three (21)(22)(23) found no evidence of a correlation.…”

Adverse metabolic and mental health outcomes associated with shiftwork in a population-based study of 277,168 workers in UK biobank

“…[8,13,14] Shiftworkers were once predominantly male, manufacturing sector workers, but this is no longer the case; a recent government survey reported that security services, transport and communications industries were the most common occupation of shiftworkers in the United Kingdom.…”

The ageing shift worker: a prospective cohort study on need for recovery, disability, and retirement intentions

“…cardiovascular diseases (8). Some studies suggest associations between shift work and depressive symptoms (9,10). Moreover, social marginalization and psychosomatic disorders are common among shift workers (5).…”