BackgroundSouth Korea is one of the countries with the longest working hours in the OECD countries. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of working hours on depressive symptoms and the role of job stress factors between the two variables among employees in South Korea.MethodsThis study used data from the Korea Working Conditions Survey in 2014. Study subjects included 23,197 employees aged 19 years or older who work more than 35 h per week. Working hours were categorized into 35–39, 40, 41–52, 53–68, and more than 68 h per week. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the WHO’s Well-Being Index with a cut-off score of 13. We calculated prevalence ratios of depressive symptoms according to working hours using log-binomial regression. Through the percentage change in prevalence ratios, we identified the extent of the role of job stress factors that explain depressive symptoms.ResultsThe risks of depressive symptoms were significantly higher in people who worked 35–39 h per week (PR: 1.09, CI: 1.01–1.18), 53–68 h/week (PR: 1.21, CI: 1.16–1.25), and more than 68 h/week (PR: 1.14, CI: 1.07–1.21) than 40 h/week, after adjusting for confounding variables. Job stress explained the effects of long working hours on depressive symptoms in about 20–40% of the groups working more than 40 h/week. Among the factors of job stress, social support was 10–30%, which showed the highest explanatory power in all working hours. Reward explained 15–30% in the more than 52 h working group, and reward was the most important factor in the working group that exceeded 68 h.ConclusionsWe showed the working hours could be an independent risk factor for depressive symptoms in employees. To improve workers’ mental health, it is important to strengthen social support in the workplace, to provide adequate rewards as they work, and ultimately to regulate the appropriate amount of working hours.

Objective: The aim of this study was to confirm the association between working hours and self-rated health, and to find the degree of changes in health level by working hours according to gender. Methods: This study was based on the 929 workers (571 men and 358 women) from the Korean Labor and Income Panel Study during 2004–2006. To minimize the healthy worker effects, the study subjects included only those who did not have any chronic diseases, and who answered their health status as “moderate” or above in the baseline. Logistic regression analysis was used to confirm the associations between working hours and self-rated health. Results: In men, working hours per week of 47–52 h, 53–68 h, and >68 h were associated with 1.2, 1.3, and 1.1 times increases, respectively, in the odds ratio on worsened self-rated health, compared with the reference group (40–46 h). On the other hand, the risks were 1.0, 2.2, and 2.6 times increases in women. However, the results were different according to gender in the group with less than 40 h. The men with less than 40 h had a 0.9 times odds ratio on worsened self-rated health. For the women with less than 40 h, the odds ratio on self-rated health was 5.4 times higher than the reference group. Conclusions: Working more than 52 h per week had a negative effect on health, regardless of gender. However, in the group with less than 40 h, the negative association between working hours and self-rated health were shown only in women. Health outcomes due to working hours may differ by gender. Therefore, further studies are needed to explore the causes of these results.

IntroductionSouth Korea is one of the countries with the longest working hours in the OECD countries. Long working hours can be a risk factor of mental illness as well as cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of long working hours on depressive symptoms among employees in South Korea.MethodsThis study used data from the Korea Working Conditions Survey in 2014. Study subjects included 22 910 employees aged 19 years or older who work more than 35 hours per week. Working hours were categorised into 35–40, 41–52, 53–68, and more than 68 hours per week. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the WHO’s Well-Being Index with cut-off score of 50. We calculated prevalence ratios of depressive symptoms according to working hours using log-binomial regression.ResultsOnly 38.6% of Korean employees worked 35–40 hours per week. The proportion of employees who worked 41–52, 53–68, and more than 68 hours were 32.7, 15.4, and 4.7%, respectively. The rate of depressive symptoms was 42.8%, and the average of well-being index in Korea was 58.3. The longer the working hours were, the higher the risk of depressive symptoms was. Even after adjusting for sex, age, socioeconomic position, physical problems, job stress and exposure to violence, the risks of depressive symptoms were significantly higher in people who worked 53–68 hours/week (PR, 1.13 95% CI: 1.09 to 1.17), and more than 68 hours/week (PR, 1.07 95% CI: 1.02 to 1.13) than 35–40 hours/week.ConclusionWe showed the long working hours could be an independent risk factor for depressive symptoms in employees. Long working hours can lead to the lack of time to recover and sleep disturbances, which can be associated with depressive symptoms. It is necessary to adjust to the appropriate working hours for employees’ mental health.

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The purpose of this study was to compare the prevalence of workplace violence in European countries and Korea, and to determine the relationship between the prevalence of workplace violence and gender equality in each country. The level of gender equality was used as a proxy for the sensitivity to and awareness of workplace violence. Methods: This study included 30,032 Europeans from the 6th European Working Conditions Survey and 39,675 Koreans from the 5th Korean Working Conditions Survey. Workplace violence included verbal abuse, unwanted sexual attention, threats, and humiliating behaviors over the past month and physical violence, sexual harassment, and bullying or harassment over the past year. The prevalence of workplace violence was standardized using the direct standardization method. Spearman' s rank correlation analysis was used to examine the relationship between the prevalence of workplace violence and Gender Gap Index (GGI) adjusted for the Gini coefficient, unemployment rate, and share of temporary employment. Results: Countries with a high GGI showed a higher prevalence of workplace violence. Even after adjusting for the Gini coefficient, unemployment rate, and share of temporary employment, the positive correlations between the GGI and workplace violence over the past month (r=0.475, P=0.019) and workplace violence over the past year (r=0.692, P=0.001) were still significant. Conclusion:This study is significant in that it addressed the issue of underreporting violence despite data limitations. Public intervention should be considered to increase sensitivity to workplace violence and prevent workplace violence. (Ewha Med J 2021;44(3):70-79)

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IntroductionIn the 24 hour society, night workers encounter more chance of violence. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of work-related violence and the mental health problems related to the work-related violence of young adults who worked as night workers in South Korea.MethodsThe survey was conducted among 507 night workers aged 19–29 who worked in convenience stores, coffee shops, and fast-food restaurants in Seoul, South Korea. The data were obtained by well-trained interviewers with a structured questionnaire. Work-related violence was defined as a physical attack, verbal abuse, sexual harassment, and bullying that occurred in work-related situations or circumstances. The risks of post-traumatic stress disorder, insomnia, and depression were measured using the impact event scale-revised scores, insomnia severity index, and PHQ-9, respectively.ResultsAmong total 507 night workers included in the study, 159 (31.4%) had experienced at least one violent incident during their work hours. Among workers who had experienced violence in the workplace, verbal abuse was the most common type. The prevalence of work-related violence increased with longer night working time and longer tenure. Regardless of the type of violence, most of the perpetrators were found to be customers. We observed that 27 (17.0%) of the workers who had experienced violence were at high risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Furthermore, the night workers who had experienced sexual harassment and bullying were shown to have a 41% and 67% higher risk of PTSD, respectively. In addition, we found that night workers who had experienced work-related violence were subject to 3.0 and 3.2 times increased risk of insomnia (95% CI: 1.98 to 4.62) and depression (95% CI: 1.91 to 5.38), respectively.ConclusionWork-related violence which night workers experienced could be a risk factor for mental illness. Protective intervention against violence toward night workers is urgently needed.