Do changes in working hours increase stress in Japanese white-collar workers?

IntroductionHigh stress at work is associated with negative health outcomes for workers, making stress prevention a critical challenge. Overtime work is an influential stress factor. This study, therefore, aimed to longitudinally evaluate how stress increased depending on changes in working hours am...

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Main Authors: Masaki Ozawa, Tatsuhiko Anzai, Takashi Yamauchi, Kunihiko Takahashi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-02-01
Series:Frontiers in Public Health
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1076024/full
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author Masaki Ozawa
Tatsuhiko Anzai
Takashi Yamauchi
Kunihiko Takahashi
author_facet Masaki Ozawa
Tatsuhiko Anzai
Takashi Yamauchi
Kunihiko Takahashi
author_sort Masaki Ozawa
collection DOAJ
description IntroductionHigh stress at work is associated with negative health outcomes for workers, making stress prevention a critical challenge. Overtime work is an influential stress factor. This study, therefore, aimed to longitudinally evaluate how stress increased depending on changes in working hours among Japanese white-collar workers.MethodsWe targeted 3,874 participants who were full-time workers and were recognized as having low stress in a web-based cohort in 2018 (T1) and 2019 (T2). We performed univariate and multivariate logistic regression with the following variables: years of experience, years of education, medical background, income, and roommates.ResultsWe observed a greater increase in stress among female who worked 41–50 h per week at T1 and more than 50 hours per week at T2, and those who worked more than 50 h per week at T1 and 35–40/41–50 h per week at T2, compared to those who worked 41–50 h per week both at T1 and T2, with odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) of OR = 2.09, 95% CI (1.18, 3,70); OR =1.86, 95% CI (1.14, 3.03), respectively. However, no association between change in working hours and stress was found among male.DiscussionThese results show that reducing stress requires decreasing working hours as well as identifying factors that lead to high stress.
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spelling doaj.art-415c9e8ff7ce4a7ea65b63ca0759c8802023-02-01T05:24:09ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Public Health2296-25652023-02-011110.3389/fpubh.2023.10760241076024Do changes in working hours increase stress in Japanese white-collar workers?Masaki Ozawa0Tatsuhiko Anzai1Takashi Yamauchi2Kunihiko Takahashi3School of Medicine, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, JapanDepartment of Biostatistics, M&D Data Science Center, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, JapanDepartment of Public Health and Environmental Medicine, The Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo, JapanDepartment of Biostatistics, M&D Data Science Center, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, JapanIntroductionHigh stress at work is associated with negative health outcomes for workers, making stress prevention a critical challenge. Overtime work is an influential stress factor. This study, therefore, aimed to longitudinally evaluate how stress increased depending on changes in working hours among Japanese white-collar workers.MethodsWe targeted 3,874 participants who were full-time workers and were recognized as having low stress in a web-based cohort in 2018 (T1) and 2019 (T2). We performed univariate and multivariate logistic regression with the following variables: years of experience, years of education, medical background, income, and roommates.ResultsWe observed a greater increase in stress among female who worked 41–50 h per week at T1 and more than 50 hours per week at T2, and those who worked more than 50 h per week at T1 and 35–40/41–50 h per week at T2, compared to those who worked 41–50 h per week both at T1 and T2, with odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) of OR = 2.09, 95% CI (1.18, 3,70); OR =1.86, 95% CI (1.14, 3.03), respectively. However, no association between change in working hours and stress was found among male.DiscussionThese results show that reducing stress requires decreasing working hours as well as identifying factors that lead to high stress.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1076024/fullstressworking hourswhite-collarlongitudinal studyfull-time workers
spellingShingle Masaki Ozawa
Tatsuhiko Anzai
Takashi Yamauchi
Kunihiko Takahashi
Do changes in working hours increase stress in Japanese white-collar workers?
Frontiers in Public Health
stress
working hours
white-collar
longitudinal study
full-time workers
title Do changes in working hours increase stress in Japanese white-collar workers?
title_full Do changes in working hours increase stress in Japanese white-collar workers?
title_fullStr Do changes in working hours increase stress in Japanese white-collar workers?
title_full_unstemmed Do changes in working hours increase stress in Japanese white-collar workers?
title_short Do changes in working hours increase stress in Japanese white-collar workers?
title_sort do changes in working hours increase stress in japanese white collar workers
topic stress
working hours
white-collar
longitudinal study
full-time workers
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1076024/full
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AT takashiyamauchi dochangesinworkinghoursincreasestressinjapanesewhitecollarworkers
AT kunihikotakahashi dochangesinworkinghoursincreasestressinjapanesewhitecollarworkers