Personal meaning of work and perceived work ability among middle-aged workers with physically strenuous work: a Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 Study.

PURPOSE: To investigate the association between personal meaning of work and perceived work ability among middle-aged workers with physically strenuous or light work. We evaluated the course of perceived work ability from 31 to 46 years and examined the possible differences in the association between personal meaning of work and perceived work ability at the age of 46 depending on physical workload. METHODS: The study population consisted of participants of the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 (n = 4420). Data were collected through questionnaires at 31 and 46 years. The main outcome was perceived work ability (0-7 = poor, 8-10 = good) and the main explanatory measures were physically strenuous work and personal meaning of work. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were adjusted for unhealthy habits, number of diseases, job strain, social support at work, employment history and gender. They were also stratified for the strenuousness of work. RESULTS: Perceived work ability decreased during the 15-year follow-up in both the strenuous and light work groups, and was lowest among workers with strenuous work. Perceived work ability remained poor or decreased in 22% of men and 21% of women in the strenuous work group vs. 14% and 13% in the light work group, respectively. After adjusting for confounders, the participants in both groups who reported low personal meaning of work were at approximately a twofold risk of having poor perceived work ability at 46 years compared to the participants who reported high personal meaning of work. CONCLUSIONS: Perceived work ability was significantly lower and deteriorated more during the follow-up among participants with strenuous work. High personal meaning of work was important for good work ability, irrespective of the strenuousness of work.

Perceived Work Ability in the Light of Long-Term and Stress-Related Unhealthy Behaviors-a Prospective Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: Most of the few studies that exist on the longitudinal associations between health behaviors and work ability target to single health behaviors. PURPOSE: To investigate how lifetime clusters of unhealthy behaviors associate with perceived work ability in early midlife. METHODS: The study population consisted of 46-year-old men and women (n = 3107) born in Northern Finland in 1966. Their current perceived work ability compared to lifetime best, and their unhealthy behaviors (physical inactivity, smoking, and alcohol consumption) were assessed by questionnaires. We determined clusters of unhealthy behaviors at the ages of 14, 31, and 46 and created lifetime development trajectories of health behaviors. We also assessed stress-related eating and drinking at the ages of 31 and 46. Cross-tabulations and multivariate logistic regression models were used to investigate the associations between clusters of health behaviors, stress-related eating and drinking, and work ability at 46 years. The analyses were controlled for basic education and physical strenuousness of work, psychosocial job characteristics, perceived work ability, and BMI (kg/m(2)) at 31 years. RESULTS: Four health behavior trajectories emerged: always healthy, moderate (reference group), deteriorated. and always unhealthy. Among men, always unhealthy behaviors [OR (95 % confidence interval) 2.81 (1.35, 5.86)], and among women, deteriorated health behaviors [1.67 (1.07, 2.58)] associated with poor perceived work ability at 46 years. In addition, stress-related eating and drinking associated independently with poor perceived work ability at 46 years [men 2.58 (1.62, 4.12) and women 2.48 (1.70, 3.61)]. CONCLUSION: Long-lasting and stress-related unhealthy behaviors increase the risk of poor work ability in midlife.

Stress-related eating, obesity and associated behavioural traits in adolescents: a prospective population-based cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Stress-related eating is associated with unhealthy eating and drinking habits and an increased risk of obesity among adults, but less is known about factors related to stress-driven eating behaviour among children and adolescents. We studied the prevalence of stress-related eating and its association with overweight, obesity, abdominal obesity, dietary and other health behaviours at the age of 16. Furthermore, we examined whether stress-related eating is predicted by early-life factors including birth size and maternal gestational health. METHODS: The study population comprised 3598 girls and 3347 boys from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986 (NFBC1986). Followed up since their antenatal period, adolescents underwent a clinical examination, and their stress-related eating behaviour, dietary habits and other health behaviours were assessed using a postal questionnaire. We examined associations using cross-tabulations followed by latent class analysis and logistic regression to profile the adolescents and explain the risk of obesity with behavioural traits. RESULTS: Stress-related eating behaviour was more common among girls (43%) than among boys (15%). Compared with non-stress-driven eaters, stress-driven eaters had a higher prevalence of overweight, obesity and abdominal obesity. We found no significant associations between stress-eating and early-life factors. Among girls, tobacco use, shorter sleep, infrequent family meals and frequent consumption of chocolate, sweets, light sodas and alcohol were more prevalent among stress-driven eaters. Among boys, the proportions of those with frequent consumption of sausages, chocolate, sweets, hamburgers and pizza were greater among stress-driven eaters. For both genders, the proportions of those bingeing and using heavy exercise and strict diet for weight control were higher among stress-eaters. Besides a 'healthy lifestyle' cluster, latent class analysis revealed two other patterns ('adverse habits', 'unbalanced weight control') that significantly explained the risk of overweight among boys and girls. CONCLUSIONS: Stress-related eating is highly prevalent among 16-year-old girls and is associated with obesity as well as adverse dietary and other health behaviours among both genders, but intrauterine conditions are seemingly uninvolved. In terms of obesity prevention and future health, adolescents who use eating as a passive way of coping could benefit from learning healthier strategies for stress and weight management.

Engaging Leadership and Psychological Safety as Moderators of the Relationship between Strain and Work Recovery: A Cross-Sectional Study of HSS Employees.

Work in the health and social sector (HSS) is highly straining and therefore recovery from work needs to be promoted. Less is known on how job resources can be used to alleviate job strain and increase recovery from work. Thus, we analyzed the following: the association between job demands and work recovery; the connections of engaging leadership and psychological safety to recovery from work; and the moderating effects of engaging leadership and psychological safety on the relationship between strain and recovery from work. This cross-sectional study of 18,155 HSS and 4347 eldercare employees in 2020 using linear regression analysis showed that job strain (p < 0.001) and moral distress (p < 0.001) were associated with decreased recovery from work. Engaging leadership (p < 0.001) and psychologically safe work community (p < 0.001) enhanced recovery from work independently. Engaging leadership mitigated the harmful effect of job strain (p < 0.01) and moral distress (p < 0.05), and psychological safety mitigated the effect of job strain (p < 0.001), but not moral distress (p > 0.05). Thus, it is important to reduce job strain so that employees recover from work. Further job resources such as engaging leadership and psychological safety are important in themselves as they support recovery from work and employees' well-being, but also as they alleviate job demands.

Effects of Group Counseling Transmitted Through Videoconferencing on Changes in Eating Behaviors.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effects of constructivism-based dietary group counseling transmitted through videoconferencing (VC) and face-to-face (FF) counseling on changes in eating behaviors. METHODS: Altogether, 74 participants with high risk of type 2 diabetes were divided into FF and VC groups based on their place of residence in northern Finland. Constructivism-based dietary group counseling, a nonrandomized intervention, was performed (evaluations at 0, 6, and 21 months). The Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire-18 was used to evaluate cognitive restraint eating (CR), emotional eating (EE), and uncontrolled eating (UE). Data were analyzed using ANOVA and ANCOVA (significance level of 0.05). RESULTS: Cognitive restraint eating increased and UE decreased between baseline and 6 months in both groups, but between baseline and 21 months only in the FF group (P = .005 and P = .021, respectively). Emotional eating decreased only in the VC group (P = .016). There were no differences between groups at 6 or 21 months. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Constructivism-based counseling delivered through videoconferencing was effective at improving eating behaviors.

Long-Lasting Obesity Predicts Poor Work Ability at Midlife: A 15-Year Follow-Up of the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of adulthood obesity on work ability in early midlife during a 15-year follow-up. METHODS: The study population included men and women (n = 5470), born in northern Finland in 1966. Participants evaluated their current perceived work ability compared with their lifetime best at the age of 46. Participants' weight and height were measured at 31 years and self-reported at 46 years, and body mass indexes were calculated. RESULTS: Obesity at both ages, and developing obesity between the ages of 31 and 46 increased the relative risk of poor work ability at 46 years among sexes, and among those in both low and high physically strenuous work. CONCLUSIONS: Long-term obesity and developing obesity in mid-adulthood increase the risk of poor work ability. Thus, the promotion of healthy behaviors by policies, healthcare services, and at workplaces is important.

Psychosocial factors at work and obesity among young finnish adults: a cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the associations between occupational psychosocial factors and obesity among 31-year-olds, adjusting for adolescent body mass index, physical strenuousness of work, and adverse health behaviors (ie, stress-related eating/drinking, leisure-time physical inactivity, smoking, and high alcohol consumption). METHODS: The study population comprised 2083 men and 1770 women from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966. Obesity was defined as a body mass index of 30.0 kg/m or more. Psychosocial exposures were defined in terms of demands, control, and social support at work. RESULTS: Among men, high job demands and low worksite social support were independently associated with obesity. Among women, stress-related eating/drinking and physical inactivity seemed to promote obesity. Body mass index at age 14 was an important predictor of obesity for both sexes. CONCLUSIONS: In workplace obesity prevention programs, it might be beneficial to improve the psychosocial work environment and promote healthy behaviors simultaneously.

Occupational burnout, eating behavior, and weight among working women.

BACKGROUND: Eating behavior affects weight and thus the development of obesity. Studies on the effect of occupational burnout (exhaustive fatigue, cynicism, and lost occupational self-respect caused by chronic work stress) on eating behavior are lacking. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to investigate associations between occupational burnout, eating behavior, and weight among working women. DESIGN: A total of 230 working women participated in a randomized controlled intervention trial (Nuadu) that aimed at changing the health behaviors of those with health risks. We assessed eating behavior using the Three-Factor Eating Behavior Questionnaire 18 and burnout using the Bergen Burnout Indicator 15 at both baseline and 12 mo. Body weight and percentage body fat were also measured at baseline and at 12 mo. The intervention and control groups were combined and divided by burnout and weight-change variables. RESULTS: Women experiencing burnout at baseline had significantly higher scores in emotional eating (EE; P = 0.002) and uncontrolled eating (UE; P = 0.001) than did those without burnout. A significant difference was found between the change in UE from baseline to 12 mo in those with and without burnout (P = 0.05). UE decreased significantly among those without burnout at baseline (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Those experiencing burnout may be more vulnerable to EE and UE and have a hindered ability to make changes in their eating behavior. We recommend that burnout should be treated first and that burnout and eating behavior should be evaluated in obesity treatment.