Work

TGI Monday?: Drug‐Dependent Outpatients Report Lower Stress and More Happiness at Work than Elsewhere

Year: 2012

Type: article

Abstract: In the general population, experience-sampling studies show that work is the aspect of daily life most associated with momentary unhappiness and a desire to be elsewhere. We assessed whether this holds true for urban outpatients in treatment for heroin and cocaine dependence. In a 25-week natural-history study, 79 employed methadone-maintained misusers of heroin and cocaine carried electronic diaries on which mood and behavior were assessed up to five times per day. Being at work was associated with lower stress, greater happiness, and lower drug craving. Work accounted for 14% of the variance in stress, 30% of the variance in happiness, and 50% of the variance in cocaine craving. Participants with skilled jobs reported more positive and less negative mood states (and lower cocaine craving) at all times compared to participants with semi/unskilled jobs, although the latter reported greater mood improvement at work. In all participants, mood improvements occurred specifically in the presence of coworkers (not other companions). Our seemingly unusual findings might be specific to substance-disorder patients (for whom work may be a respite from drug-using companions), but might also hold for other urban dwellers of similar socioeconomic backgrounds (for whom work may be a respite from environmental stressors).

Source: American Journal on Addictions

DOI: 10.1111/j.1521-0391.2012.00230.x

Authors: David H. Epstein, Kenzie L. Preston

Institutions: National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse

Language: English

Topic: Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes

Subfield: Epidemiology

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDGs: Good health and well-being, Decent work and economic growth

Open Access status: green

Funder: National Institutes of Health