| Overtime work and stress response in a group of Japanese workers (2009) | |||||||||||||
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| Background Working long overtime hours is considered a cause of mental health problems among workers but such a relationship has yet to be empirically confirmed. Aim To clarify the influence of overtime work on response to stress and to assess the role of other stress-related factors on this relationship. Methods The study was conducted among 24 685 employees of a company in Japan. Stress response, job stressors and social supports were assessed by the Brief Job Stress Questionnaire. Participants were divided into five categories of overtime (0–19, 20–39, 40–59, ≥60 h of overtime per month and exempted employees). Results The nonadjusted odds ratios for stress response for 40–59 and ≥60 overtime hours per month in reference to 0–19 overtime hours were 1.11 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.03–1.19] and 1.62 (95% CI 1.50–1.76), respectively. After adjustment for self-assessed amount of work, mental workload and sleeping time, the association between overtime work and stress response disappeared. Conclusions This large cross-sectional study shows that overtime work appears to influence stress response indirectly through other stress factors such as self-assessed amount of work, mental workload and sleeping time. | |||||||||||||
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