Weston, Gillian Anne Marie;
(2022)
Atypical work patterns and their associations with depressive symptoms, mental wellbeing, and sleep: findings from a UK population-based study.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
Objective: To examine whether, in the UK, relative to typical work patterns (open-ended, permanent, full-time, daytime, weekday employment, usually conducted at the employer’s premises), atypical work patterns (conceptualised as precarious, temporal and spatial work patterns) relate to worse or better mental health and sleep. Methods: Analysis of data from working men and women aged 16 and over, in Understanding Society, the UK Household Longitudinal Study. Regression models, adjusted for potential confounders and work conditions, estimated depressive symptoms (measured by GHQ-12), mental wellbeing (i.e., feeling good and functioning well measured by SWEMWBS), sleep duration (hours/night) and disturbance (difficulty falling and staying asleep and perceived poor quality sleep), across the three groups of atypical work patterns. Precarious was operationalised as temporary work and self-employment; spatial as remote working (including homeworking); and temporal as weekly work hours (e.g., part-time [<35 hours/week], long hours [41-54 hours/week], extra-long hours [≥55 hours/week]), nonstandard schedules (i.e., shifts and working outside 9am-5pm), and (some and most/all) weekends. Results: Cross-sectional analyses found part-time, extra-long hours, nonstandard schedules, and weekends were associated with elevated depressive symptoms, and self-employment with fewer symptoms. Mental wellbeing was poorer among nonstandard schedules and weekend workers, and better among self-employed and remote workers. Cumulative episodes of working nonstandard schedules and most/all weekends related to subsequent elevations of depressive symptoms, whilst cumulative episodes of self-employment related to fewer symptoms. Cross-sectional analysis found relative to sleeping 7-8 hours/night, remote, part-time and self-employed workers slept longer, individuals working ≥41 hours/week slept less, and those working weekends and nonstandard schedules slept both longer and shorter durations. Temporary work and all the atypical temporal work patterns were associated with sleep disturbance, whereas self-employment and remote working were inversely associated with sleep disturbance. Conclusion: Several atypical patterns, especially temporal ones, may contribute to poorer mental health and sleep; conversely self-employment and remote working may have a protective effect.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | Atypical work patterns and their associations with depressive symptoms, mental wellbeing, and sleep: findings from a UK population-based study |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2022. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author's request. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10157953 |
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