Affiliations: [a] Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Uppsala University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden
| [b] Institute of the History, Philosophy and Ethics of Medicine, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
| [c] Department of Occupational Health Science, University of Wuppertal, Wuppertal, Germany
| [d] Psychology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
| [e]
Mid Sweden University, Sundsvall, Sweden
| [f] Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| [g]
Centre for Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Stockholm County Council, Sweden
| [h] Stress Research Institute, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
| [i]
National Agency for Special Needs Education and Schools, Härnösand, Sweden
Correspondence:
[*]
Address for correspondence: Roma Runeson-Broberg, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Uppsala University Hospital, Sweden. Tel.: +46 018 6113654; E-mail: roma.runeson.broberg@medsci.uu.se.
Abstract: 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.
