Women who work long hours - more than 55 a week - have an increased risk of depression, while working on weekends increases the risk of depression for both sexes, according to a new British scientific study.
The modern economy is constantly expanding - formally and informally - the working hours of employees beyond the usual office hours, both on weekdays and weekends. This trend has an impact on both the physical and mental health of employees, as the new study shows.
The researchers, led by Gillian Weston of the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at University College London (UCL), who published their findings in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, analyzed data from 11.215 men and 12.188 women. were classified into categories according to the number of their working hours. At the same time, their mental health was assessed through a relevant questionnaire-test.
Smokers, older people and those who made the least money were found to have higher rates of depression, which was true for both sexes. It was also found that men generally work more hours than women, with almost half (50%) working overtime, while the corresponding percentage of women who worked more than normal was less than 25%. Also, almost half of the women worked part-time, compared to only 15% of the men.
Most married, who were also parents, did not work more than normal, while vice versa, male parents often worked longer hours. More than two-thirds of men worked on weekends, while almost half of women did the same.
No difference in depressive symptoms was found between men who worked more or less hours. But work on the weekends was associated with more depressive symptoms in both men and women.
The worst mental health of all (both sexes) were women who worked a total of more than 55 hours a week, especially if they worked every weekend or most weekends of the month. The researchers noted that women tend to work longer hours in either the well-paid but male-dominated occupations or the low-paid jobs in the service sector.
These women are additionally burdened with the time they have to work for their household, which increases the risk of depression. The researchers pointed out that, as previous studies have shown, if unpaid housework is taken into account, then women work a total of more than men during the week.
Source: RES - EIA