Job Strain and Health-Related Lifestyle: Findings From an Individual-Participant Meta-Analysis of 118 000 Working Adults
Year: 2013
Type: review
Abstract: OBJECTIVES: We examined the associations of job strain, an indicator of work-related stress, with overall unhealthy and healthy lifestyles. METHODS: We conducted a meta-analysis of individual-level data from 11 European studies (cross-sectional data: n = 118,701; longitudinal data: n = 43,971). We analyzed job strain as a set of binary (job strain vs no job strain) and categorical (high job strain, active job, passive job, and low job strain) variables. Factors used to define healthy and unhealthy lifestyles were body mass index, smoking, alcohol intake, and leisure-time physical activity. RESULTS: Individuals with job strain were more likely than those with no job strain to have 4 unhealthy lifestyle factors (odds ratio [OR] = 1.25; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.12, 1.39) and less likely to have 4 healthy lifestyle factors (OR = 0.89; 95% CI = 0.80, 0.99). The odds of adopting a healthy lifestyle during study follow-up were lower among individuals with high job strain than among those with low job strain (OR = 0.88; 95% CI = 0.81, 0.96). CONCLUSIONS: Work-related stress is associated with unhealthy lifestyles and the absence of stress is associated with healthy lifestyles, but longitudinal analyses suggest no straightforward cause-effect relationship between work-related stress and lifestyle.
Authors: Katriina Heikkilä, Eleonor I. Fransson, Solja T. Nyberg, Marie Zins, Hugo Westerlund, Peter Westerholm, Marianna Virtanen, Jussi Vahtera, Sakari Suominen, Andrew Steptoe, Paula Salo, Jaana Pentti, Tuula Oksanen, Maria Nordin, Michael G. Marmot, Thorsten Lunau, Karl-Heinz Ladwig, Markku Koskenvuo, Anders Knutsson, France Kittel, Karl-Heinz Jöckel, Marcel Goldberg, Raimund Erbel, Nico Dragano, Dirk DeBacquer, Els Clays, Annalisa Casini, Lars Alfredsson, Jane E. Ferrie, Archana Singh-Manoux, G. David Batty, Mika Kivimäki
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funders: Helsingin Yliopisto, Wellcome Trust, British Heart Foundation, Bupa Foundation, University College London, European Commission, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Forskningsrådet för Arbetsliv och Socialvetenskap, Työsuojelurahasto, Deutsche Gesetzliche Unfallversicherung, Karolinska Institutet, Universiteit Gent, Umeå Universitet, Mittuniversitetet, Turun Yliopisto, Uppsala Universitet, Stockholms Universitet, Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology, Heinz Nixdorf Stiftung, Medical Research Council, Economic and Social Research Council
Awards: Centre for Cognitive Ageing & Cognitive Epidemiology, Determinants of healthy ageing in the Whitehall II study, RENEWAL: The psychophysiology of coronary heart disease, Adult Determinants of Late Life Depression, Cognitive Decline and Physical Functioning - The Whitehall II Ageing Study, Proposal to conceptually integrate social determinants of health research and capabilities approach to development and social justice., Vascular risk and functional decline in old age (renewal), RENEWAL: Psychosocial and biological factors in the occurrence of cardiovascular disease: the Whitehall II study
OpenAlex ID: W2142114142