The social and health implications of digital work intensification. Associations between exposure to information and communication technologies, health and work ability in different socio-economic strata

Prem Borle,Susanne Voelter-Mahlknecht,Franziska Boerner-Zobel,Hans Martin Hasselhorn,Melanie Ebener

doi:10.1007/s00420-020-01588-5

Abstract

PurposeOlder employees are often thought to be vulnerable to negative effects of information and communication technology (ICT). Our study aims to examine associations between work-related ICT exposure (i.e. ICT use or digital work intensification), physical health, mental health and work ability (WA). We examine whether these associations are modified by socio-economic position (SEP).MethodsWe analysed cross-sectional data from 3180 participants (born in 1959 and 1965) in wave 3 of the representative German lidA cohort study. We performed hierarchical multiple regression to assess the distinct associations of ICT use and digital work intensification with mental and physical health and WA. We stratified analyses by SEP and controlled for age, sex, and digital affinity.Results92% of participants reported ICT use at work. Almost 20% reported high levels of digital work intensification, while a similar proportion did not experience digital work intensification. In bivariate analyses, ICT use by itself was not significantly associated with mental health or WA in the total sample or when stratified. Digital work intensification displayed negative associations with mental health and WA. In hierarchical multiple regressions, digital work intensification showed consistently negative associations with mental health and work ability of similar strength across SEP.ConclusionOur results suggest that ICT use, per se, does not negatively impact older workers. Digital work intensification may be associated with worse mental health and work ability. Research on health and social implications of work-related ICT should differentiate patterns of ICT exposure and assess modifications by SEP to better gauge the ambiguous effects of ICT.

Highlights

Health implications of work‐related exposure to ICTThe increasing diffusion of information and communications technologies (ICT), defined as technologies that provide access to information through telecommunications, has been transforming work and life in the twenty-first century
In examining work-related ICT exposure and how broader organisational factors influence the implications of ICT use for health, we distinguish between ICT use and digital work intensification. This distinction guides our main research question: In what ways is ICT exposure associated with general physical and mental health as well as work ability (WA) among older workers? In addition, our study aims to examine whether these associations are modified by socioeconomic position (SEP)
Unlike some previous research has suggested, our findings indicate that a high level of ICT use is not harmful when it is not experienced as digital work intensification

Summary

Introduction

Health implications of work‐related exposure to ICTThe increasing diffusion of information and communications technologies (ICT), defined as technologies that provide access to information through telecommunications, has been transforming work and life in the twenty-first century. An action commonly framed as evidence of personal autonomy—choosing to use one’s mobile email devices to work anywhere/anytime—can lead professionals to feel like they are obliged to do it everywhere/all the time, diminishing their autonomy in practice. This ambiguous phenomenon has been called “the autonomy paradox” (Mazmanian et al 2013). It is crucial to assess the rapid diffusion of work-related ICT use and the ongoing transformations of work and private life (Wajcman 2016) with regard to their implications for health

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