The odds of a major depressive episode are more than double for those working 11 or more hours a day compared to those working seven to eight hours a day, according to a report is published in the Jan. 25 issue of the online journal PLoS ONE.
The authors, led by Marianna Virtanen of the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health and University College London, followed about 2000 middle aged British civil servants and found a robust association between overtime work and depression. This correlation was not affected when the analysis was adjusted for various possible confounders, including socio-demographics, lifestyle, and work-related factors.
There have been a number of previous studies on the subject, with varying results, but the researchers emphasize that it is hard to compare results across these studies because the cut-off for "overtime" work has not been standardized.
"Although occasionally working overtime may have benefits for the individual and society, it is important to recognize that working excessive hours is also associated with an increased risk of major depression", says Dr Virtanen.
Citation: Virtanen M, Stansfeld SA, Fuhrer R, Ferrie JE, Kivima¨ki M (2012) Overtime Work as a Predictor of Major Depressive Episode: A 5-Year Follow-Up of the Whitehall II Study. PLoS ONE 7(1): e30719. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0030719
Financial Disclosure: The Whitehall II study has been supported by grants from the Medical Research Council, http://www.mrc.ac.uk/, British Heart Foundation http://www.bhf.org.uk/,Stroke Association, http://www.stroke.org.uk/, National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/ (HL36310), National Institute on Aging, http://www.nia.nih.gov/ (AG13196). Dr. Kivima¨ ki is supported by the Academy of Finland, http://www.aka.fi/en-GB/A/ (124271, 124322, 129264 and 132944), the EU New OSH ERA Programme, http://www.newoshera.eu/en/index_html, and the BUPA Foundation, UK, http://www.bupafoundation.com/; Dr. Ferrie is supported by the National Institute of Aging, http://www.nia.nih.gov/. Dr. Fuhrer holds the CIHR Canada; http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/193.html Research Chair in Psychosocial Epidemiology. The funders have no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Competing Interest Statement: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Disclaimer: This press release refers to upcoming articles in PLoS ONE. The releases have been provided by the article authors and/or journal staff. Any opinions expressed in these are the personal views of the contributors, and do not necessarily represent the views or policies of PLoS. PLoS expressly disclaims any and all warranties and liability in connection with the information found in the release and article and your use of such information.
About PLoS ONE
PLoS ONE is the first journal of primary research from all areas of science to employ a combination of peer review and post-publication rating and commenting, to maximize the impact of every report it publishes. PLoS ONE is published by the Public Library of Science (PLoS), the open-access publisher whose goal is to make the world's scientific and medical literature a public resource.
All works published in PLoS ONE are Open Access. Everything is immediately available—to read, download, redistribute, include in databases and otherwise use—without cost to anyone, anywhere, subject only to the condition that the original authors and source are properly attributed. For more information about PLoS ONE relevant to journalists, bloggers and press officers, including details of our press release process and our embargo policy, see the everyONE blog at http://everyone.plos.org/media.
Journal
PLOS ONE