‘People would notice if you drank wine in the office, right?’ Heavy-drinking employees’ experiences with changes in work conditions during and after COVID-19

Previous studies on changes in working conditions and mental health are few and have typically focused only on psychosocial working conditions. We assessed the impact of changes in both psychosocial and physical working conditions on common mental disorders (CMDs) in a cohort of midlife and older employees. Repeat data were derived from the Helsinki Health Study, which is a cohort study on employees of the City of Helsinki, Finland (aged 40-60 years at baseline). Changes in working conditions were assessed between Phase 1 (2000-2002) and Phase 2 (2007). CMD was assessed at Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 3 (2012) using the 12-item General Health Questionnaire. In total, 4946 participants (82% women) who were still employed at Phase 2 were available for the analyses. Logistic regression analyses using generalized estimating equations were conducted to examine the association between changes in working conditions and the likelihood of CMD. ORs and their 95% CIs were estimated. After adjustment for sex, age, marital status, health behaviours and obesity; increased and repeated exposure to low job control, high job demands and repetitive movements and repeated exposure to awkward postures and rotation of back were associated with a higher likelihood of CMD at Phases 1-3. Fully adjusted ORs ranged from 1.27 to 2.39 for psychosocial, and from 1.18 to 1.29 for physical working conditions. Repeated and increased exposures to several adverse psychosocial and physical working conditions are associated with a higher likelihood of CMD.

BackgroundPrevious studies on changes in working conditions and mental health are few and have typically focused only on psychosocial working conditions. We assessed the impact of changes in both psychosocial...

The aim this study was to examine the effect of changes in physical and psychosocial working conditions on physical health functioning among ageing municipal employees. Follow-up survey data were collected from midlife employees of the City of Helsinki, Finland, at three time points: wave 1 (2000-2002), wave 2 (2007), and wave 3 (2012). Changes in physical and psychosocial working conditions were assessed between waves 1 and 2. Physical health functioning was measured by the physical component summary (PCS) of the Short-Form 36 questionnaire at each of the three waves. In total, 2784 respondents (83% women) who remained employed over the follow-up were available for the analyses. Linear mixed-effect models were used to assess the associations and adjust for key covariates (age, gender, obesity, chronic diseases, and health behaviors). Repeated and increased exposure to adverse physical working conditions was associated with greater decline in physical health functioning over time. In contrast, decrease in exposures reduced the decline. Of the psychosocial working conditions, changes in job demands had no effects on physical health functioning. However, decreased job control was associated with greater decline and repeated high or increased job control reduced the decline in physical health functioning over time. Adverse changes in physical working conditions and job control were associated with greater decline in physical health functioning over time, whereas favorable changes in these exposures reduced the decline. Preventing deterioration and promoting improvement of working conditions are likely to help maintain better physical health functioning among ageing employees.

Addiction as a Coping Response: Hyperkatifeia, Deaths of Despair, and COVID-19.

ObjectivesTo investigate the relation between changes in working conditions and exit from paid employment among workers with a chronic disease.MethodsSix waves from the longitudinal Study on Transitions in Employment, Ability...

If policy makers and employers are to take health issues into account when making decisions that will impact on work practices and work environments, they will need accurate information concerning...

The aim of the study was to examine the associations of changes in exposure to physical and psychosocial working conditions on subsequent sickness absence among ageing municipal employees of the City of Helsinki, Finland. Changes in exposure to working conditions were assessed between baseline (2000-2002) and follow-up (2007) surveys. Register-based sickness absence information was linked to the survey data (N=3739) and followed-up from the return of the questionnaire in 2007 to the end of 2010. The study included six measures of physical and two measures of psychosocial working conditions. Negative binomial regression analysis was used to assess the associations and adjust for covariates. Favorable changes in physical working conditions lowered the risk for sickness absence whereas adverse changes increased the risk. Adverse changes in psychosocial working conditions only slightly increased the risk for sickness absence whereas favorable changes were unassociated with sickness absence. Changes in exposure to physical working conditions in particular are associated with subsequent sickness absence. Preventing an increase in exposure to both psychosocial and physical working conditions and promoting a decrease in exposure to physical working conditions likely helps reduce the risk of sickness absence.

The diverse and complex variations in the possible forms of health-work interactions are constantly reconfigured over the course of a person's career. The aims of this study were: 1) assess the scope of the individual changes in working conditions; 2) examine conjoint changes in working conditions; 3) examine the links between these changes and back pain and fatigue. Analyses were conducted using data from the French observatory EVREST. The variations for each individual (close to 8,000 in total) were studied by comparing data for each individual obtained at two dates at least four years apart within the period between 2010 and 2017. The frequency of the studied constraints was often similar at two dates (T1 and T2), but significantly higher for repetitive movements, working additional hours and interruptions which disrupt the work. The variations in physical constraints, intensity of work and lack of agency scores between the two timepoints are two-by-two positively correlated. Finally, respondents in the higher tertiles for any of these working condition scores at T2 had a higher probability of back pain or fatigue, compared to individuals in the lower tertiles at both timepoints. Being in a higher tertile at both dates corresponded to the highest odds-ratios for health complaints. From a "sustainability" perspective, these findings support treating this diversity of seniority in a profession and past experience at the same time as major decisions on production are made, rather than dealing with it as an afterthought.

Studies on evolution of working conditions and workers' health in developed countries show conflicting results, and often fail to identify evolutions by occupational sector. This study aimed to describe recent evolutions of working conditions and health status of French workers over a decade across different activity sectors. Data from a large national French observatory of working conditions and health were used. This observatory collects, for a random sample of employees, data on their working conditions and health. Data on working conditions and health status of employees in the 13 main French activity sectors in 2010-2011 and 2018-2019 were used. A 2 steps weighting method was used to allow results to be extrapolated to the French employees. Overall, 23,951 and 26,538 questionnaires were collected for the 2010-2011 and 2018-2019 periods, respectively. Job demand significantly decreased and job resources significantly increased between 2010-2011 and 2018-2019 while physical workload decreased. Neck, wrist, elbow and back pain disorders significantly decreased as well as anxiety, whereas shoulder disorders, fatigue and sleep disorders increased. However, there were large and significant disparities in evolutions between sectors, for exposures and health status. The most worrisome sector was the Human health and social work sector with no improvement in the working conditions and increasing health problems. Overall, evolutions and prevalence of physical exposure or health problems do not bring the same information. It is important to understand the extent to which psychosocial, physical working conditions and health status differ among various industry categories, and to study the determinants of such disparities such that policy and practice interventions to reduce disparities can be appropriately directed. It is also important to continue monitoring health of workers, as the impact of changes in working conditions may not have an immediate effect, particularly for conditions with a long latency period.

New Challenges in Addiction Medicine: COVID-19 Infection in Patients With Alcohol and Substance Use Disorders-The Perfect Storm.

The epidemic within the pandemic: Behavioral health and substance use in the face of COVID-19

Stressful life events are associated with problematic drinking, and alcohol misuse has been exacerbated during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. While coping motives may account for this association, positive life events (PLEs) and enhancement motives are understudied. To address these gaps, we examined the associations of history of alcohol use disorder (AUD), negative life events (NLEs), and PLEs with problematic alcohol use and tested coping and enhancement motives as mediators. The sample included baseline and follow-up data from 241 participants enrolled in the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism COVID-19 Pandemic Impact on Alcohol Study. Endorsements of past year PLEs and NLEs and their associations with problematic alcohol use were examined. Among the 202 current drinkers, path analyses tested mediational pathways via coping and enhancement motives. The top two PLEs were change in work conditions (21.6%) and taking a vacation (20.3%). The top two NLEs were change in social activities (36.5%) and major change in recreation (26.6%). Individuals with a history of AUD and those who experienced more NLEs reported higher coping and enhancement motives, which were associated with higher problematic alcohol use. Individuals who experienced more PLEs reported lower coping motives, which was associated with lower problematic alcohol use. Besides coping motives, enhancement motives were also associated with pandemic problematic alcohol use. Alcohol interventions targeting reward- and relief-driven drinking patterns may be beneficial to individuals with a history of AUD and those who experienced more NLEs. More research is needed to study PLEs which may help inform the development of strength-based alcohol interventions.

COVID-19 and Stress-Related Disorders.

Rise in oral cancer risk factors associated with the COVID-19 pandemic mandates a more diligent approach to oral cancer screening and treatment

In this article we consider the consequences of work-family reconciliation, in terms of the extent to which the adjustment of the labour market career to family demands (by women) contributes to a better work-life balance. Using the Flemish SONAR-data, we analyse how changes in work and family conditions between the age of 26 and 29 are related to changes in feelings of time pressure among young working women. More specifically, by using cross-lagged models and synchronous effects panel models, we analyse (1) how family and work conditions affect feelings of time pressure, as well as (2) reverse effects which may point to (working career) adjustment strategies of coping with time pressure. Our results show that of all the considered changes in working conditions following family formation (i.e. having children), only the reduction of working hours seems to improve work-family balance (i.e. reduces the experience of time pressure). Part-time work is both a response to high time pressure, and effectively lowers time pressure. The effect of part-time work is not affected by concomitant changes in the type of paid work, rather, work characteristics that increase time pressure increase the probability of reconciling work with family life by reducing the number of work hours.