Abstract
The analysis of the impact of shift work on occupational health still needs further contributions. Therefore, we developed this research with the purpose of assessing the impact of shift work on occupational health indicators, namely burnout, work-engagement, occupational self-efficacy, and mental health functioning (symptoms of depression and anxiety), by comparing workers who did shift work (44.2% of participants) with workers who did not (55.8% of participants). A total of 695 Portuguese professionally active adults between 18 and 73 years of age (Mage = 37.71; SD = 12.64) participated in this study and completed a survey containing a sociodemographic questionnaire and four occupational health measures: The Burnout Assessment Tool, The Work-Engagement questionnaire (UWES), The Occupational Self-Efficacy Questionnaire, and the BSI-18 for mental health symptoms. Results showed statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) for all indicators, demonstrating that participants who worked shifts presented lower scores of work-engagement and occupational self-efficacy, and higher scores of burnout, depression, and anxiety when compared to participants who did not work shifts. Linear regressions showed that shift work explained significant but low percentages of anxiety symptoms, low work-engagement, depression symptoms, low occupational self-efficacy, and burnout. We concluded that non-standard working hours (by shifts) are detrimental to employee occupational health, by increasing the risk of anxiety and depression levels, and burnout, and by reducing work-engagement (as a well-being indicator) and occupational self-efficacy perceptions.
Highlights
Shift work has always existed, being initially linked to protection and survival needs, such as guarding, military, or surveillance activities, having changed radically after the industrial revolution, which allowed workers to perform their duties at different times, even at night [1]
In the Portuguese context, the few existing studies tend to focus on specific sectors of professional activities [42,43], leaving room for more general assessments that consider the nature of the work itself. To fill this gap, we developed this research, where the general objective was to assess the impact of shift work on the occupational health of Portuguese workers and, to examine differences between workers who carry out their professional activity in shifts or not in the domains of occupational burnout, work-engagement, occupational self-efficacy, and mental functioning
We conclude that non-standard work hours are detrimental to employee occupational health, by increasing the risk of anxiety and depression levels, by increasing burnout, and by reducing work-engagement and occupational self-efficacy perceptions
Summary
Shift work has always existed, being initially linked to protection and survival needs, such as guarding, military, or surveillance activities, having changed radically after the industrial revolution, which allowed workers to perform their duties at different times, even at night [1]. The nature of shift work has been changing drastically, due to economic, technological, and social reasons, to provide answers to the increase in professional activities in particular sectors such as health, transportation, communications, or security [2]. Shift work is defined by the International Labor Organization as the method of organization of working time in which workers succeed one another at the workplace so that organizations can operate longer than the hours of work of individual workers at different.
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