How is the way we spend our time related to psychological wellbeing? A cross-sectional analysis of time-use patterns in the general population and their associations with wellbeing and life satisfaction

Abstract

Background Time-use surveys can closely monitor daily activities, times of stress and relaxation, and examine predictors and trajectories with regard to health. However, previous studies have often neglected the complex interaction of daily activities when looking at health outcomes. Methods Using latent profile analysis, this study examined patterns of self-reported daily time use (0–12h hours) for nine types of behaviour (work, errands, housework, childcare, care of persons in need, education, repairs and gardening, physical activity, and hobbies/leisure-time activities) in the 2018 wave of the German Socio-Economic Panel (N = 30,152; 51.9% female; M = 46.87 years). Sociodemographic variables, affective wellbeing, general and domain-specific life satisfaction, and self-rated health were inspected as predictors via multinomial logistic regression models. Results Six latent profiles emerged: full-time work (47.2%), leisure (33.8%), childcare (8.9%), education (7.0%), part-time work & care (2.6%), and care (0.5%). Overall, the care and part-time work & care profiles showed the lowest wellbeing scores, lower subjective health, and life satisfaction. Women were more likely to be members of the care and childcare profiles. Men were more likely to belong to the full-time work profile, and they reported significantly higher wellbeing than women. Conclusions The analysis revealed distinct patterns of time use and a burden on women, given their investment in care and childcare. Part-time work, and care seemed particularly demanding, and thus, are important areas for prevention, for instance, regarding mental health problems. However, time use was assessed via self-reports, therefore future studies could implement objective measures like digital trackers to validate findings.

Associations between Leisure Preferences, Mindfulness, Psychological Capital, and Life Satisfaction

“…Thus, H4 was partially confirmed, evidencing that mindfulness and psychological capital mediate links between leisure preferences and life satisfaction. These results signify that leisure preferences and life satisfaction are interrelated constructs mediated by psychological variables, as indicated by previous studies [ 17 , 21 , 28 , 45 , 132 , 137 , 141 , 143 , 146 , 147 , 148 , 149 , 150 ]. However, these associations’ details concerning particular leisure preferences require a more grounded approach, preferably including personality traits as predictors [ 96 ] and psychological needs satisfaction [ 134 ] as covariates in further research.…”

“…Surprisingly, no significant differences were found in any of the study variables in groups of respondents who prefer or do not prefer book reading or spending time with friends. These results might be partially linked to previous research suggesting associations between life satisfaction and leisure preferences, namely, family [ 12 , 39 , 40 , 55 , 137 , 138 ], watching television [ 5 , 7 , 10 , 56 , 60 , 139 , 140 , 141 , 142 ], or participation in events [ 54 , 58 , 143 ]. However, it is unclear why the differences concerning book reading or spending time with friends were not significant in this study and why those who prefer spending leisure time with a family score higher on mindfulness and psychological capital.…”

Under contract and in good health: a multigroup cross-lagged panel model of time use and health-related quality of life in working-age men and women

“…Apart from gender, the way we spend our time is also strongly influenced by other sociodemographic variables, such as education or income [4]. Previous studies examining time use often did not consider the confounding effects of sociodemographic background (e.g., [10,11]), which may in part explain inconsistent findings on gender effects.…”

“…The other sociodemographic variables were treated as confounders, as time use and HRQoL vary across a number of sociodemographic variables [36,37]. As our focus lies on gender differences in time use and HRQoL, which can be explained, for instance, by differences in gender roles, balancing work and family life, and ultimately male versus female norms (e.g., [23]) and following previous analyses [4] we included the following confounder variables: age (years), household income (Euros ÷ 1000 per month), number of children living in household, employment status (dummy coded; no employment [reference category], part-time employment, full-time employment), education (dummy coded ISCED 2011: low = 0-2 [reference category], middle = 3-4, high = 5-8), and marital status (1 = married, 0 = not married). Data of the sociodemographic variables came from the 2013 wave.…”

“…The association between time use and health is wellknown [1,2,3]. For instance, spending more time in paid work and devoting more time to family and childcare can be associated with good health, but excessive time spent on housework can also lead to negative health outcomes [4]. The COVID-19 pandemic has also demonstrated a change in leisure activities with a decline in physical activity, and an increase in sedentary activities (e.g., screen-based), and in turn poorer mental health [5,6,7,8].…”