Work overcommitment: Is it a trait or a state?

PURPOSE: Effort-reward imbalance (ERI) is a well-tested work-related stress model with three components, the two extrinsic components "efforts" and "rewards" and the one intrinsic component "overcommitment". While an imbalance between "efforts" and "rewards" leads to strain reactions, "work-related overcommitment" (OC) has been described as a personal characteristic with a set of attitudes, behaviours, and emotions reflecting excessive striving combined with a strong desire for approval. However, the question whether OC is a personality trait or a response pattern sensitive to changes in the work context (state) is still open. METHODS: 2940 Swedish industrial employees were included in this longitudinal analysis of the WOLF-Norrland data over 5 years. A change of OC index or its subscales were regressed against a change of freedom of choice at work, extra work, and ERI adjusted for age, sex, and education. RESULTS: While OC was insensitive to changes in freedom of choice at work and extra work, it was clearly associated with changes of work-related stress over time. Three of four OC subscales exhibited statistically significant associations with ERI. CONCLUSIONS: For the first time, we studied fundamental characteristics of OC as an independent personality variable (trait) or an outcome variable subject to changes in the work environment (state). The association between external ERI and OC over time supports our hypothesis of OC being a state. Further investigations are needed to establish OC as a trait or a state.

Effort-Reward Imbalance at Work and Incident Coronary Heart Disease: A Multicohort Study of 90,164 Individuals.

BACKGROUND: Epidemiologic evidence for work stress as a risk factor for coronary heart disease is mostly based on a single measure of stressful work known as job strain, a combination of high demands and low job control. We examined whether a complementary stress measure that assesses an imbalance between efforts spent at work and rewards received predicted coronary heart disease. METHODS: This multicohort study (the "IPD-Work" consortium) was based on harmonized individual-level data from 11 European prospective cohort studies. Stressful work in 90,164 men and women without coronary heart disease at baseline was assessed by validated effort-reward imbalance and job strain questionnaires. We defined incident coronary heart disease as the first nonfatal myocardial infarction or coronary death. Study-specific estimates were pooled by random effects meta-analysis. RESULTS: At baseline, 31.7% of study members reported effort-reward imbalance at work and 15.9% reported job strain. During a mean follow-up of 9.8 years, 1,078 coronary events were recorded. After adjustment for potential confounders, a hazard ratio of 1.16 (95% confidence interval, 1.00-1.35) was observed for effort-reward imbalance compared with no imbalance. The hazard ratio was 1.16 (1.01-1.34) for having either effort-reward imbalance or job strain and 1.41 (1.12-1.76) for having both these stressors compared to having neither effort-reward imbalance nor job strain. CONCLUSIONS: Individuals with effort-reward imbalance at work have an increased risk of coronary heart disease, and this appears to be independent of job strain experienced. These findings support expanding focus beyond just job strain in future research on work stress.

Validating abbreviated measures of effort-reward imbalance at work in European cohort studies: the IPD-Work consortium.

BACKGROUND: Effort-reward imbalance (ERI) is an established conceptualisation of work stress. Although a validated effort-reward questionnaire is available for public use, many epidemiological studies adopt shortened scales and proxy measures. To examine the agreement between different abbreviated measures and the original instrument, we compared different versions of the effort-reward scales available in 15 European cohort studies participating in the IPD-Work (Individual-participant-data meta-analysis in working populations) consortium. METHODS: Five of the 15 studies provide information on the original ('complete') scales measuring 'effort' and 'reward', whereas the 10 remaining studies used 'partial' scales. To compare different versions of the ERI scales, we analyse individual-level data from 31,790 participants from the five studies with complete scales. RESULTS: Pearson's correlation between partial and complete scales was very high in case of 'effort' (where 2 out of 3 items were used) and very high or high in case of 'reward', if at least 4 items (out of 7) were included. Reward scales composed of 3 items revealed good to satisfactory agreement, and in one case, a reward scale consisting of 2 items only demonstrated a modest, but still acceptable degree of agreement. Sensitivity and specificity of a composite measure, the ratio of effort and reward, comparing partial versus complete scales ranged between 59-93 and 85-99 %, respectively. Complete and partial scales were strongly associated with poor self-rated health. CONCLUSION: Our results support the notion that short proxy measures or partial versions of the original scales can be used to assess effort-reward imbalance.

Effort-reward imbalance, "locked in" at work, and long-term sick leave.

OBJECTIVES: The objective was to study the relationship between a situation characterized as being in a "locked-in" position (LIP) in occupation and/or place of work, Effort-reward imbalance (ERI), and long-term sick leave. METHODS: The study population derived from one section of a cross-sectional study SKA (sick-leave, culture and attitudes), and comprised all employees at the Swedish Social Insurance Agency responsible for management and compensation of illness in the working population. The analyses were performed for 2,951 women and 534 men who had complete data. Logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratio (OR) for ERI and sick-leave, the latter only for women. RESULTS: The results showed a strong association between LIP within the place of work and ERI (for women OR = 3.28 95% CI 2.65-4.07, and for men 2.74 1.75-4.30). Also LIP within occupation resulted in high ERI (for women OR = 1.96 1.57-2.41, and for men 1.92 1.22-3.03). In women, ERI (OR = 1.40 1.15-1.70) as well as LIP within place of work (1.88 1.50-2.36) and within occupation (1.48 1.12-1.86) were associated with sick leave. ERI showed a significant mediating effect between LIP and sick leave, within place of work and within occupation (Z value 2.20 and 2.88, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: High ERI is associated with a situation characterized by being locked-in within an occupation or/and within a place of work. The results thereby support the theoretical model of Effort-reward imbalance. The results show that high ERI and being locked in are associated with long-term sick leave. ERI is a potential mediator of the association between being locked in and sick leave.

Age-related associations between work over-commitment and zest for work among Swedish employees from a cross-sectional and longitudinal perspective.

BACKGROUND: In aging societies, zest for work may be pivotal when deciding to stay occupationally active longer. Psychosocial work stress is a prevalent public health problem and may have an impact on zest for work. Work over-commitment (WOC) is a personal coping strategy for work stress with excessive striving and a health risk. However, the long-term effect of WOC on zest for work is poorly understood. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the age-related associations of work over-commitment with zest for work. METHODS: During 1996-1998 and 2000-2003, predominantly industrial workers (n = 2940) participated in the WOLF-Norrland study and responded to a questionnaire referring to socio-demographics, WOC, zest for work, effort-reward imbalance proxies, and mental health. Age-adjusted multiple logistic regressions were performed with original and imputed datasets. RESULTS: Cross-sectionally, work overcommitted middle-aged employees had an increased prevalence of poor zest for work compared to their contemporaries without WOC (OR: 3.74 [95%-CI 2.19; 6.40]). However, in a longitudinal analysis associations between onset of 'poor zest for work' and the WOC subscales 'need for approval' (OR: 3.29 [95%-CI 1.04; 10.37]) and 'inability to withdraw from work' (OR: 5.14 [95%-CI 1.32; 20.03]) were observed. CONCLUSION: The longitudinal findings among older employees could be relevant regarding the expected need to remain occupationally active longer.

Effort-reward imbalance, sleep disturbances and fatigue.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to investigate the validity of the effort-reward imbalance (ERI) model in relation to disturbed sleep and fatigue. METHODS: The study population derived from a subset of the WOLF (WOrk, Lipids, Fibrinogen) cohort study of cardiovascular risk in a working population who replied to the ERI-questionnaire comprising 789 men and 214 women. Cox regression analysis was used to calculate the prevalence ratio (PR) for sleep disorders and fatigue in relation to the components of ERI. RESULTS: As sleep disturbances and fatigue, based on literature, were defined to be represented by the uppermost quintile, 14% of the men and 23% of the women were affected by sleep disturbances while 14 and 26%, respectively, were affected by fatigue. Higher levels of exposure for the ERI components were associated with increased prevalence of sleep disturbances and fatigue. For men, the strongest association was seen between high overcommitment and fatigue (PR 5.77, 95% confidence interval 2.89-11.5). For women, high effort and sleep disturbances (PR 4.04, CI 1.53-10.7), high effort/reward ratio and sleep disturbances (PR 4.13, CI 1.62-10.5), and between low reward and fatigue (PR 4.36, CI 1.79-10.6) yielded the most obvious associations. CONCLUSIONS: The present study adds sleep disturbances and fatigue to the list of adverse consequences of effort-reward imbalance.