The Gutenberg health study: associations between occupational and private stress factors and work-privacy conflict

Abstract

BackgroundWork-privacy conflict (WPC) is no longer a rarity but constitutes a societal problem. The objectives of the present study were (1) to investigate the distribution and prevalence of WPC among the employed participants in the Gutenberg Health Study at baseline and (2) to study the dependence of WPC on a broad range of private life and occupational characteristics as well as on psychosocial working conditions.MethodsThis analysis is based on a representative, population-based sample of 3,709 employees participating in the Gutenberg Health Study. Descriptive and bivariable analyses were carried out separately for women and men. Distribution and prevalence of WPC were examined according to socio-demographic and occupational characteristics as well as psychosocial working conditions. Further, stepwise selection of Poisson log-linear regression models were performed to determine which socio-demographic and occupational characteristics were most associated with the outcome variable WPC and to obtain adjusted prevalence ratios from the final model. The multivariable analyses were conducted both separately for women and men and with all subjects together in one analysis.ResultsThere was a high prevalence of WPC in the present study (27.4 % of the men and 23.0 % of the women reported a high or very high WPC). A variety of factors was associated with WPC, e.g. full-time employment, depression and many of the psychosocial risk factors at work. Also, the multivariable results showed that women were of higher risk for a WPC.ConclusionsBy affecting the individual work life, home life, and the general well-being and health, WPC may lead to detrimental effects in employees, their families, employers, and society as a whole. Therefore, the high prevalence of WPC in our sample should be of concern. Among women, the risk for suffering from WPC was even higher, most likely due to multiple burdens.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-016-2881-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Estimating the potential reduction in future sickness absence from optimizing group-level psychosocial work characteristics: a prospective, multicenter cohort study in German industrial settings

“…Work conducted in the past century following up individual subjects (i.e. the Whitehall II study [37]) strongly suggested a possible link between adverse psychosocial work conditions and sickness absence [38][39][40]. Many companies now use employee assistance programs to support individuals with mental challenges.…”

Precarious working conditions and psychosocial work stress act as a risk factor for symptoms of postpartum depression during maternity leave: results from a longitudinal cohort study

“…For the purpose of this study, its subscale WPC (46,47) with 7 items from the German version of the COPSOQ was used. The WPC has been associated with overall demands at work, speci cally with cognitive and emotional demands and has been previously shown to be associated with depression (14). The scale has very good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha= 0.92; 49).…”

“…A growing body of research has investigated possible negative consequences of this spill-over, such as higher prevalence of burnout, depression, anxiety, and absenteeism from work as well as lower life satisfaction, lack of energy, sleep disorders, fatigue, and poorer self-reported health (27)(28)(29). In addition, women with depression often reported to have a very high WPC (14) and a 2-year prospective study in Sweden could show that the increased risk of poor self-rated health in uenced by WPC was more pronounced in women than in men (30). In general, mothers and women seem to be at greater risk of WPC (25), especially when holding a university degree or having a high socio-economic status (14).…”

“…In addition, women with depression often reported to have a very high WPC (14) and a 2-year prospective study in Sweden could show that the increased risk of poor self-rated health in uenced by WPC was more pronounced in women than in men (30). In general, mothers and women seem to be at greater risk of WPC (25), especially when holding a university degree or having a high socio-economic status (14). Given the diversity of different working environments, it seems likely that other aspects of psychosocial working conditions, such as emotional and quantitative demands at the workplace, are related to WPC (14).…”

Precarious working conditions and psychosocial work stress act as a risk factor for symptoms of postpartum depression during maternity leave: results from a longitudinal cohort study

“…There has been evidence that maternal work participation in general has a positive influence on female health (11,12). However, certain aspects of work seem to increase the risk for depression, such as effort-reward imbalance (13) and work-privacy conflict, especially in women outside from the peripartum period (14,15). This leads to the question, how much of an impact job and work-related factors during the prepartum period may have regarding peripartum mental health, especially PPD.…”