User:Fan-Yun Lan/sandbox

Mental effects

The mental effects on workers will vary based upon the work they do, the number of hours they work, and the type of individual. Groupon performed a study in July 2016 on the effects of work. The results found that 38% work too much, 46% never had time to relax, and 60% of pollers have an unhealthy work-life balance. While this research showed some trends concerning the effects, other research has been performed to test the satisfaction levels of employees. A 2004 study of workers in Australia showed a trend that satisfaction levels decreased as the numbers of hours worked increased. They also stated that these effect could be lessened for those who enjoyed working extensive hours. These types of workers are more satisfied with their work-life balance.

In addition to working satisfaction, another Australian longitudinal cohort study revealed a poorer mental health in workers with long working hours. The authors conducted a 12-year longitudinal follow-up cohort consisted of 18420 people and 90637 observations. With the Mental Component Summary (MCS) of the Short Form 36 (SF-36) measure, they noted a 48% increased probability regarding mental health decline in those workers working 49-59 hours per week, compared with those under standard working hours (that is, 35-40 hours per week). The probability even increased by 53% in those working more than 60 hours a week. They also found the difference in gender; among those working 49-59 hours per week, the SF-36 scores are lower among the female than the male, indicating worse mental health among female workers.

Similar gender difference was noted in other studies. As follow-up of the Whitehall study, a research team conducted a prospective cohort study following 2960 mid-aged full-time workers consisted of 2248 men and 712 women. The results revealed a 267% increased depression symptoms and a 284% increased anxiety symptoms among those female workers working more than 55 hours per week, compared with those under standard working hours (35-40 hours per week). They also indicated a trend that for every 10 hours increase in weekly working hours would be associated with 40% increase in depression symptoms and 31% increase in anxiety symptoms. Similar trends were not noted among male workers. Similarly, Margot Shields surveyed 3,830 men and women between the ages of 25 and 54 who worked 35 hours or more per week between 1994 and 1997. She analyzed the relationship between working hours and depression. Her results found that women had increased likelihood of experiencing depression the more hours they worked.

Suicide ideation is another concern for overtime work. A research conducted in Korea recruited 67471 samples, and the results revealed 30% higher suicide ideation among workers with working hours more than 60 hours (31% increase in male workers and 33% increase in female workers). There was also increased suicide ideation noted among workers working for 51-60 hours per week, for both male and female workers.

To sum up, overtime work related mental effects include lower working satisfaction, depression, anxiety, and suicide ideation. Among them, depression and anxiety are more predominant among female workers. Some research proposed probable reasons for the gender difference. One fact is that female workers tend to have more household responsibilities after work, which contributes to their mental stress. The other fact is that female workers have been reported with relative minorities in working place, such as lower job control, bullying, discrimination, and so on.