Health and motivation as mediators of the effects of job demands, job control, job support, and role conflicts at work and home on sickness presenteeism and absenteeism

Abstract

Purpose The first objective was to contribute to a better understanding of the contrasting and paradoxical results in studies of work environment factors and sickness presence and sickness absence. A second objective was to examine if, and under what conditions, employees choose to replace sickness absence with sickness presence, i.e., so-called substitution. Methods The study utilizes a large body of cross-sectional questionnaire data (n = 130,161) gathered in Sweden from 2002 to 2007 in connection with a comprehensive health promotion initiative. Health and motivation were analyzed as mediators of the effects of five job factors, job control, job support, job demand, role conflict and “work to family conflict” on sickness presence and absence. Results The results concerning job demands indicate substitution in that increased job demands are associated with increased presenteeism and reduced absenteeism. The direct effect of higher job support was increased absenteeism, but via the health and motivation paths, the total effect of more social support was health-promoting and associated with a reduction in sickness absence and sickness presence. High job control emerged as the most pronounced health-promoting factor, reducing sickness presenteeism as well as absenteeism. More role conflicts and work-to-family conflicts were directly and indirectly associated with decreased health and increased absenteeism as well as presenteeism. earlier research. Conclusion The mediation analyzes shed light on some of the paradoxes in research on sickness presenteeism and sickness absenteeism, especially regarding job demands and job support. The substitution effect is important for workplace policy and occupational health practice.

Do Attitudes towards Work or Work Motivation Affect Productivity Loss among Academic Employees?

“…The measure used, a validated and reliable (α.70) [ 16 ] work motivation scale, was first introduced by Sjöberg and Lind [ 15 ], and has been used in other studies [ 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 ]. A short, validated and reliable version of the scale was developed [ 16 ] and has been used in several studies [ 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 ]. In this study, a similar short version of the work motivation scale was used.…”

Understanding the Decision-Making Process Between Presenteeism and Absenteeism

“…Research has identified a variety of factors related to attendance behaviors that are under the control of employers. To name just a few, the importance of social support ( Saijo et al, 2017 ; Nielsen et al, 2019 ; Yang et al, 2019 ; Aronsson et al, 2020 ), attendance cultures or climate ( Thun et al, 2013 ; Løset et al, 2018 ; Mach et al, 2018 ; Martinez et al, 2018 ; Ferreira et al, 2019 ; Ruhle and Süß, 2019 ), reward systems ( Della Torre et al, 2015 ; Rostad et al, 2017 ), and working conditions ( Gerich, 2014 ; Jourdain and Vézina, 2014 ; Yang et al, 2016 ; Ferreira, 2018 ) should be noted here. For example, it is reasonable to assume that employees will stay home in the event of illness if they know that their replacement is well arranged ( Miraglia and Johns, 2016 ) and they do not have to fear that their absence will incur the anger of their colleagues.…”

The changing nature of work – Job strain, job support and sickness absence among care workers and in other occupations in Sweden 1991–2013

“…In general, other aspects being equal, the sickness absence pattern over the years shows that high social support was related to somewhat lower sickness absence. Recent research has shown that high social support may have a paradoxical effect on health and sickness absence ( Aronsson et al, 2021 ). Social support is supposed to lower sickness absence through its health effects but may also raise the motivation to go to work when ill, which in the long run may harm the health and raise sickness absence.…”

“…Sickness absence reflects the health of the working population but the relationship between illness and sickness absence is variable. Research has identified several factors that influence the association such as sickness presenteeism ( Aronsson et al 2000 , 2021 ), use of sickness absence as an illness prevention strategy ( Kristensen, 1991 ), job insecurity ( Ferrie et al, 2001 ; Virtanen et al, 2003 ) and different thresholds for sickness absence between occupations ( Andersen et al, 2012 ). The role of sickness absence compensation levels may also depend on which time perspective is chosen ( Sjöberg, 2017 ).…”