Work-life conflict and employee health: A review

Work-related smartphone use during off-job hours and work-life conflict: A scoping review

Over recent decades the use of smartphones for work purposes has burgeoned both within and beyond working hours. The aim of the study was to conduct a scoping review to explore the association between the use of smartphone technology for work purposes in off-job hours with employees' self-reported work-life conflict. Arksey and O'Malley's methodological framework was adopted. Searches were conducted in PsycINFO, International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS), Academic Search Complete, ProQuest Central, Web of Science, ProQuest Theses, Emerald, Business Source Complete, ScienceDirect, Scopus, Google Scholar. Articles were eligible that reported on a sample of workers, were published in English between 1st January 2012 and 29th November 2023. The review was conducted and reported using a quality assessment checklist and PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews). Data charting and synthesis was undertaken narratively, using the framework approach and thematic analysis. Twenty-three studies were identified, conducted in nine countries. Nineteen studies (83%) showed a significant association between increased use of smartphone for work purposes in off job-hours and increased work-life conflict, with small-to-moderate effect sizes. This relationship was mediated by psychological detachment from work, and communication about family demands with one's supervisor. Moderators either strengthened or attenuated the relationship between use of smartphone for work purposes in off job-hours and increased work-life conflict. Findings suggest that smartphone use during off-job hours is likely to impact negatively on work-life conflict, which has implications for employee wellbeing. Managers could play a key role in clarifying expectations about after-hours availability, reducing job pressure, advocating psychological detachment from work in off-job hours where it is appropriate, and creating a workplace culture where communication about the interplay between work and home life is encouraged. The protocol is registered on the Open Science Framework (OSF) (https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/WFZU6).

"Everybody is impacted. Everybody's hurting": Grief, loss and the emotional impacts of overdose on harm reduction workers

BACKGROUND

The emotional impacts of witnessing and responding to overdose and overdose-related deaths have been largely overlooked during the drug toxicity overdose crisis in North America. Scarce research has analyzed these impacts on the health and well-being of harm reduction workers, and the broader determinants of harm reduction work. Our study investigates the experiences and impacts of witnessing and responding to frequent and escalating rates of overdose on harm reduction workers in Toronto, Canada.

METHODS

Using semi-structured interviews, 11 harm reduction workers recruited from harm reduction programs with supervised consumption services in Toronto, Canada, explored experiences with and reactions to overdose in both their professional and personal lives. They also provided insights on supports necessary to help people cope with overdose-related loss. We used thematic analysis to develop an initial coding framework, subsequent iterations of codes and emergent themes.

RESULTS

Results revealed that harm reductions workers experienced physical, emotional, and social effects from overdose-related loss and grief. While some effects were due to the toll of overdose response and grief from overdose-related losses, they were exacerbated by the lack of political response to the scale of the drug toxicity overdose crisis and the broader socio-economic-political environment of chronic underfunding for harm reduction services. Harm reduction workers described the lack of appropriate workplace supports for trauma from repeated overdose response and overdose-related loss, alongside non-standard work arrangements that resulted in a lack of adequate compensation or access to benefits.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study highlights opportunities for organizational practices that better support harm reduction workers, including formal emotional supports and community-based supportive care services. Improvement to the socio-economic-political determinants of work such as adequate compensation and access to full benefit packages are also needed in the harm reduction sector for all workers.

Inequalities, barriers, intersectionality, and facilitators of careers of women with disabilities: Themes and future research agenda from a scoping review

This article examines the career motivations, opportunities, and development of women with disabilities. The increasing number of women in paid work over recent decades has resulted in substantive research on all aspects of women's careers, yet examination of women in some minority groups has received much less attention. Extant research has found that although people with disabilities exhibit strong organisational loyalty and less absenteeism from work, they experience a disability pay gap, and are less likely to be working as managers or directors or in professional occupations. Experiences of prejudice, ableism, and discrimination lead to fear of disclosure, and this may be accentuated in some economies and communities where there is stigma associated with having disabilities, especially mental illness. As estimates suggest that one billion people in the world have a disability, and women may experience a double disadvantage based on their gender and disability and thus have lower levels of employment than men with disabilities and women without disabilities, it is important to understand factors affecting the career motivations, opportunities, and development of this significant proportion of the (potential) workforce. This article presents a rapid review of the relevant literature and identifies key themes including career inequalities for women with disabilities, career barriers for women with disabilities, educational interventions to improve career motivations and opportunities for women with disabilities, facilitators for careers and career development of women with disabilities, and intersectionality of gender, disability, and other identities for women's career development. Limitations of the review include the exclusion of grey literature and certain databases in the search process. Based on the analysis of the themes developed from peer reviewed academic literature examined, suggestions for organisations and governments are presented, and a future research agenda established.

An Agenda for Advancing Research and Prevention at the Nexus of Work Organization, Occupational Stress, and Mental Health and Well-Being

Work characteristics and worker well-being are inextricably connected. In particular, the characteristics of work organization shape and perpetuate occupational stress, which contributes to worker mental health and well-being outcomes. Consequently, the importance of understanding and addressing connections between work organization, occupational stress, and mental health and well-being-the focus of this Special Issue-increasingly demand attention from those affected by these issues. Thus, focusing on these issues in the long-haul truck driver (LHTD) sector as an illustrative example, the purpose of this commentary is as follows: (1) to outline current research approaches and the extant knowledge base regarding the connections between work organization, occupational stress, and mental health; (2) to provide an overview of current intervention strategies and public policy solutions associated with the current knowledge base to protect and promote worker mental health and well-being; and (3) to propose a two-pronged agenda for advancing research and prevention for workers during the 21st century. It is anticipated that this commentary, and this Special Issue more broadly, will both echo numerous other calls for building knowledge and engaging in this area and motivate further research within complementary current and novel research frameworks.

Work-Family Conflict and Depression Among Healthcare Workers: The Role of Sleep and Decision Latitude

BACKGROUND

Healthcare workers report a higher incidence of depression than the general population. Work-family conflict is a risk factor, but the mechanisms explaining its association with depression are not well understood. This study examines the potential mediating and moderating role of sleep and decision latitude in translating work-family conflict into depression.

METHODS

In 2018, a cross-sectional survey was collected from healthcare workers (n = 1,059) in five public sector facilities in the northeast United States. The survey included questions on participants' work-family conflict, depression, sleep duration and disturbances, decision latitude, and other work environments and socio-demographic characteristics. Multivariable linear and Poisson regression modeling were used to examine associations among variables.

FINDINGS

There was a significant association between work-family conflict and depression (β = 2.70, p < .001). Sleep disturbances, although not short sleep duration, partially mediated this association. The association between work family-conflict and depression was stronger among workers with low decision latitude.

CONCLUSIONS

Depression was prevalent among healthcare workers and was associated with work-family conflict. Sleep disturbances served as a significant mediator, while decision latitude modified the strength of the association.

APPLICATION TO PRACTICE

Evidence-based interventions seeking to alleviate the effect of work-family conflict and improve healthcare workers' mental health should consider promoting employee sleep quality and improving employees' decision-making on the job.

Workplace Supported Recovery from Substance Use Disorders: Defining the Construct, Developing a Model, and Proposing an Agenda for Future Research

Substance use disorders (SUDs) represent a critical public and occupational health issue. Therefore, understanding the process of SUD recovery has become an issue of growing importance among substance use and recovery professionals. Nonetheless, despite the acknowledged importance of employment for SUD recovery, little conceptual or empirical work exists on how the workplace might support or undermine SUD recovery. In this article, we address this limitation in several ways. First, to promote a better understanding of SUD recovery for occupational health researchers, we provide a brief overview of the nature of a SUD, prior definitions of SUD recovery, and general themes associated with the recovery process. Second, we develop a working definition of workplace supported recovery. Third, we present a heuristic conceptual model showing how the workplace might impact the SUD recovery process. Fourth, using this model and research from the substance use and occupational health literatures, we develop a series of general research propositions. These propositions highlight broad directions requiring more detailed conceptualization and empirical research to understand better how work conditions may support or undermine the process of employee SUD recovery. Our overarching goal is to motivate innovative conceptualization and research on workplace supported recovery from SUDs. Such research may inform the development and evaluation of workplace interventions and policies supporting SUD recovery and highlight the benefits of workplace supported SUD recovery for employees, employers, and communities. Research on this issue may allow occupational health researchers to impact a significant societal and occupational health issue.

Work-family balance in the construction industry: why gender analysis matters to develop sustainable interventions

Work-family balance (WFB) in the construction sector has rarely been studied. Hardship, atypical schedules and seasonal work create challenging conditions for parents in this male-dominated industry. Semi-structured interviews with workers (14 men, 6 women) and a survey of 789 on-site workers (85% men, 15% women) were conducted as part of a wider participatory action-research project involving governmental actors. Triangulation of the interview and survey data clarified the influence of quantitative and qualitative workload and of managerial support on work-family conflict. Results also show that male and female workers have differentiated experiences of WF issues and, consequently, develop different WF strategies while pursuing increased flexibility. The stereotyped conception of WF encourages social norms that have various impacts on mothers and fathers working in the industry. Recommendations for a cultural shift are proposed for employers in this industry, marked by a labour shortage and low retention of female workers.Practitioner summary: This paper provides a gendered analysis of work-family issues among on-site workers in the construction industry. It aims to inform ergonomists and occupational health researchers about the potential of inflexible work designs to convey stereotypes that can impact the sustainability and equity of workplace interventions.

Social Workers' Self-Care Practices: Buffering the Influence of Work-Family Interferences on Burnout and Engagement

As a reaction to specific job stressors, social workers can experience job burnout. The job demands-resources theory posits that personal characteristics would mediate the influence of job stressors on either burnout or engagement. Within this framework, this cross-sectional research aimed to analyze the relationships between work-family interferences (as predictors), self-care practices (as mediators), and burnout and engagement (as outcomes). The sample included 437 graduate social workers from Spain. Structural equation modeling showed that family-work and work-family conflicts negatively predicted self-care practices and positively predicted burnout. Professional and personal self-care practices positively predicted engagement, negatively predicted burnout, and attenuated the impact of work-family interferences on burnout and engagement. To the authors' knowledge, the present article is the first to test the job demands-resources theory with these variables on social workers. The findings support interventions for social work students and professionals enhancing self-care practices to promote engagement and to reduce burnout, and highlight the need to decrease job stressors and enhance job resources for social workers.

Temporal Dimensions of Job Quality and Gender: Exploring Differences in the Associations of Working Time and Health between Women and Men

Research shows strong links between working time organization and workers’ health outcomes. Working time is also known to be highly gendered, with men and women working to different schedules. This article merges these two strands of research and takes a gender-based approach to investigating the relationship between temporal job quality and self-reported health in Europe. First, the sixth European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) is used to establish the relationship between temporal dimensions of job quality and health and well-being outcomes for employed women and men. This is then corroborated using larger samples and more restricted measures of job quality drawn from micro-data from the 2019–2020 EU Labor Force Survey (LFS). The analyses show that good temporal job quality is positively associated with health and subjective well-being for both women and men, but this effect is significantly stronger for women, who are also at a greater risk of exposure to low control over working time and time under-employment. The findings highlight the importance of studying the impact of working and employment conditions on health from gender perspective, and the need for further exploration of job quality due to changes in the spatio-temporal organization of work during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

Maintaining Balance for Christian Counsellors When Work is a Calling

This study examined how Christian Counsellors with a calling manage their work-non-work boundaries. A calling offers satisfaction, meaning and purpose but can lead to overwork. Using a qualitative approach with seven experienced counsellors, we identified demands that a calling can create, resources that counsellors use to manage these demands, and strategies for maintaining a balance between work and non-work. Maintaining balance required deliberate attention and giving oneself permission, and strategies were learned over time.

When Work Conflicts With Personal Projects: The Association of Work-Life Conflict With Worker Wellbeing and the Mediating Role of Mindfulness

The negative emotional and health effects of work-life conflict (WLC) have been demonstrated in numerous studies regarding organizational psychology and occupational health. However, little is known about WLC's relationship with positive wellbeing outcomes, including emotional, psychological, and social aspects of workers' thriving. Furthermore, the mediating processes underlying the effects of WLC remain mostly unknown. The current study investigated the associations of perceived time- and strain-based WLC with positive mental health and thriving at work, as well as the mediating role of mindfulness in these associations. It is argued that WLC causes reduced mindfulness capacities among workers, which is in turn associated with lower positive wellbeing given the importance of mindfulness in emotion regulation. A sample of 330 workers based in Québec, Canada, completed an online survey including a measure of strain- and time-based interference with personal projects (i.e., the goals and activities that define the daily life of an individual) and validated scales of wellbeing outcomes and mindfulness. Results of structural equation modeling revealed negative associations between time- and strain-based WLC with positive mental health and thriving at work. Work-life conflict was related to lower mindfulness, which played a mediating role in the associations between time-based WLC with positive mental health and thriving at work, as well as strain-based WLC with positive mental health. The mediation was complete for the time-based WLC and positive mental health association, but partial for the other mediated pathways, highlighting the need for more research to identify additional mediators. These results highlight that beyond resulting in negative emotional/health outcomes often studied in previous research, WLC may be associated with workers' reduced potential to live a fulfilling life, in general and in the workplace. Recommendations (e.g., mindfulness intervention to promote emotional regulation, personal project intervention) for workplace policymakers and practitioners are identified.

Changes in the quantity and quality of time use during the COVID-19 lockdowns in the UK: Who is the most affected?

We investigated changes in the quantity and quality of time spent on various activities in response to the COVID-19-induced national lockdowns in the UK. We examined effects both in the first national lockdown (May 2020) and the third national lockdown (March 2021). Using retrospective longitudinal time-use diary data collected from a demographically diverse sample of over 760 UK adults in both lockdowns, we found significant changes in both the quantity and quality of time spent on broad activity categories (employment, housework, leisure). Individuals spent less time on employment-related activities (in addition to a reduction in time spent commuting) and more time on housework. These effects were concentrated on individuals with young children. Individuals also spent more time doing leisure activities (e.g. hobbies) alone and conducting employment-related activities outside normal working hours, changes that were significantly correlated with decreases in overall enjoyment. Changes in quality exacerbated existing inequalities in quantity of time use, with parents of young children being disproportionately affected. These findings indicate that quality of time use is another important consideration for policy design and evaluation.

Work-family conflict and dangerous driving behaviours: The mediating role of affect

This study examined the under-studied relationship between work-family conflict and dangerous driving behaviours in a sample of employees, and job-related affect as a mediator of this relationship. The sample consisted of 476 Malaysian drivers (44.7% male; 55.3% female) aged 19-60 years. The participants completed scales measuring bidirectional work family conflict (work interference with family[ WIF]; family interference with work [FIW]), job-related negative affect, dangerous driving behaviours and socio-demographics. The data were analysed using structural equation modelling. Our findings indicate that dangerous driving was predicted by FIW, but not WIF. As predicted, job-related negative affect fully mediated the relationship between WIF and dangerous driving. Furthermore, the effect of FIW on dangerous driving behaviours was partially due to negative affect at work. Mediation path was conditional upon gender, suggesting the indirect effects of the relationship between FIW and dangerous driving behaviours via job affect occurs in males but not females. The findings of this study may be useful as a starting point for both applied and theoretical investigations of the role of the psychological effects of juggling work and family responsibilities and affect in traffic safety.

Work-to-Family Conflict and its Associations With Workers' Burnout, Poor Self-Rated Health, and Minor Mental Disorder: A Survey of General Employees in Taiwan

OBJECTIVES

To examine the distribution of work-to-family conflict (W-FC) across socio-demographic groups and a wide spectrum of occupations, and its associations with workers' burnout, self-rated health, and mental health status by sex.

METHODS

A cross-sectional household survey of representative employees was conducted in 2013. A standardized questionnaire was administered to collect information.

RESULTS

W-FC was high in employees aged 35 to 44 years old and in certain occupational groups. Long working hours, rotating work shift, high work demands, high job control, low workplace justice, and family care burden were risk factors for W-FC, and high W-FC score was significantly associated with burnout, poor self-rated health, and minor mental disorder.

CONCLUSIONS

To improve workers' health, it is essential to identify high risk groups and adopt measures to reduce conflicts between work and family life.

Effect of Work-Family Conflict, Psychological Job Demand, and Job Control on the Health Status of Nurses

Work-family conflicts (WFCs) are common in the healthcare sector and pose significant health risks to healthcare workers. This study examined the effect of WFCs on the health status and nurses' leaving intentions in Taiwan. A self-administered questionnaire was used to survey 200 female nurses' experiences of WFC from a regional hospital. Data on psychosocial work conditions, including work shifts, job control, psychological job demands, and workplace justice, were collected. Health conditions were measured using the Beck Depression Inventory-II and self-rated health. Leaving intentions were measured using a self-developed questionnaire. The participants' average work experience was 6.79 (Standard Deviation (SD) = 5.26) years, their highest educational level was university, and work shifts were mostly night and rotating shifts. Approximately 75.5% of nurses perceived high levels of WFCs. Leaving intentions were correlated with WFCs (r = 0.350, p < 0.01) and psychological work demands (r = 0.377, p < 0.01). After adjusting for age, educational level, and work characteristics, high levels of WFCs were associated with poor self-rated health, and depression, but not associated with high leaving intentions. Nurses' experiences of high levels of WFCs greatly affected their health status.

Headache in Medical Residents: A Cross-Sectional Web-Based Survey

BACKGROUND

Although a common complaint and related to factors frequently present in medical residency such as psychological distress, depression, and anxiety, headache is an issue poorly explored among medical residents.

METHODS

This was a cross-sectional study enrolling medical residents from all geographic regions of Brazil. We applied an online structured survey with demographic and residency program-related questions, as well as validated tools to assess burnout, diurnal somnolence, anxiety, depression, and migraine.

RESULTS

The link to the survey received 1989 clicks, of which 1421 individuals completed the questionnaire (71.4% of all clicks). The prevalence of at least 1 headache attack in the last 3 months was 1236/1419 (87.1%); migraine occurred in 400/1419 (28.2%). Frequent headache attacks (headaches occurring daily or often) were associated with female sex (OR = 1.80 [95%CI = 1.36-2.37]), substantial weight gain (1.93 [1.38-2.70]), migraine (5.49 [4.16-7.24]), anxiety (1.45 [1.06-1.98]), depression (1.98 [1.47-2.67]), emotional exhaustion domain of burnout (1.49 [1.09-2.04]), and diurnal somnolence symptoms (1.32 [1.00-1.76]). Headaches with functional impact were associated with female sex (1.39 [1.10-1.74]), clinical training areas (1.32 [1.06-1.65]), anxiety (1.74 [1.38-2.21]), an unsatisfactory work-life balance (1.57 [1.17-2.09]), the emotional exhaustion component of burnout (1.49 [1.14-1.94]), and an unsatisfactory subjective learning curve (1.30 [1.02-1.67]). Migraine was associated with female sex (3.10 [2.34-4.13]), anxiety (2.53 [1.94-3.31]), more than 60 hours duty-hours in residency (1.66 [1.29-2.15]), psychological abuse from patients (1.42 [1.06-1.90]) and a clinical training area (1.34 [1.04-1.73]).

CONCLUSION

Headaches among medical residents are frequent and are related not only to depression, anxiety, burnout, and diurnal somnolence, but also to aspects closely related to residency training such as the occurrence of mistreatment, longer duty-hours, a poor work-life balance, and an unsatisfactory learning curve.