Your work may be killing you! Workaholism, sleep problems and cardiovascular risk

Abstract

This study tests the relationship among workaholism (i.e. working excessively and compulsively), sleep problems and cardiovascular risk in 537 hospital employees. Four types of workers (i.e. workaholics, positive, compulsive and hard workers) were distinguished, comparing the health indicators. The results show that workaholics experience significantly more sleep problems (i.e. morning tiredness, sleeping while driving and sleeping fewer hours both on weekdays and at weekends, with poorer quality), have higher relative risk scores, and consume more caffeine and alcohol than the other patterns of workers (positive, compulsive and hard workers). Further analyses revealed that sleep problems fully mediated the relationship between workaholism (i.e. working excessively and compulsively) and cardiovascular risk. The present study emphasises the fact that being a workaholic might be a significant risk factor for having sleep problems and cardiovascular disease.

Workaholism profiles: Associations with determinants, correlates, and outcomes

“…However, limited research has looked at the combined effects of these two dimensions of workaholism on these important work‐related outcomes. Interestingly, emerging person‐centred research suggests that employees characterized by a high level on both dimensions tend to experience fewer sleeping hours and poorer sleep quality on weekdays and weekends, relative to those scoring high on only one dimension (Salanova et al ., ).…”

“…Specifically, attitudinal and health outcomes were assessed in the present series of studies (i.e., work–family conflict, emotional exhaustion, perceived stress, turnover intentions, psychological detachment, job satisfaction, and perceived health in Study 1, as well as work–family conflict, emotional exhaustion, perceived health, and life satisfaction in Study 2). First, we studied the effects of workaholism profiles on various work outcomes previously documented to be associated with workaholism (e.g., emotional exhaustion) across a variety of cultural samples (e.g., Dutch: Schaufeli, Bakker et al ., ; Italian: Kravina et al ., ; Spanish: Salanova et al ., ). Second, we also considered outcomes already found to be related to workaholism, but only in the context of past variable‐centred research in order to see whether these results would generalize to but person‐centred studies (e.g., work–family conflict).…”

“…Among the few relevant investigations, and despite some variations, four workaholism profiles have typically been identified (Kravina et al ., ; Salanova et al ., ): high levels of working compulsively and excessively (HC‐HE), high levels of working compulsively and low levels of working excessively (HC‐LE), low levels of working compulsively and high levels of working excessively (LC‐HE), and low levels of working compulsively and excessively (LC‐LE). For instance, Schaufeli, Bakker et al ., () identified these four workaholism profiles and showed the HC‐HE profile to be associated with the most unfavourable outcomes in terms of mental health (i.e., burnout, happiness, and recovery) and organizational behaviours (i.e., presenteeism and performance) (also see Kravina et al ., ).…”

“…Salanova et al . () showed that the HC‐HE profile had lower sleep quantity and quality, as well as greater levels of alcohol use, and risk of cardiovascular difficulties. These relations may be explained by the conservation of resources theory (Hobfoll, ).…”

“…We can thus expect attitudinal and health outcomes (i.e., Study 1: work–family conflict, emotional exhaustion, perceived stress, turnover intentions, psychological detachment, job satisfaction, and perceived health; Study 2: work–family conflict, emotional exhaustion, perceived health, and life satisfaction) to be differentially related to workaholism profiles. Based on prior research, we expect the HC‐HE profile to be associated with the worst outcomes (Kravina et al ., ; Salanova et al ., ; Schaufeli, Bakker et al ., ).…”