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International Journal of Behavioral Medicine
Published in: International Journal of Behavioral Medicine 2/2010

01-06-2010

Work–Family Conflicts and Health Behaviors Among British, Finnish, and Japanese Employees

Authors: T. Lallukka, T. Chandola, E. Roos, N. Cable, M. Sekine, S. Kagamimori, T. Tatsuse, M. Marmot, E. Lahelma

Published in: International Journal of Behavioral Medicine | Issue 2/2010

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Abstract

Background

Work–family conflicts are associated with poor health. However, work–family conflicts and health behaviors have been little studied.

Purpose

This study examined the associations of conflicts between paid work and family life with unhealthy behaviors among British, Finnish, and Japanese employees.

Method

Data were derived from postal questionnaire surveys among 40 to 60 years old employees from three cohorts, the British Whitehall II Study (n = 3,397), the Finnish Helsinki Health Study (n = 4,958), and the Japanese Civil Servants Study (n = 2,901). Outcomes were current smoking, heavy drinking, physical inactivity, and unhealthy food habits. Work–family conflicts were measured with eight items. Age, marital status, and occupational class were adjusted for in logistic regression analyses.

Results

Work–family conflicts had few and inconsistent associations with unhealthy behaviors in all three cohorts. In the Finnish cohort, strong work–family conflicts were associated with current smoking among men. Women with strong conflicts had more often unhealthy food habits and were more often heavy drinkers than women with weaker conflicts. Likewise, British women with strong work–family conflicts were more often heavy drinkers.

Conclusion

Although work–family conflicts were fairly prevalent in the examined cohorts, these conflicts had but few associations with the studied key health behaviors.
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Metadata
Title
Work–Family Conflicts and Health Behaviors Among British, Finnish, and Japanese Employees
Authors
T. Lallukka
T. Chandola
E. Roos
N. Cable
M. Sekine
S. Kagamimori
T. Tatsuse
M. Marmot
E. Lahelma
Publication date
01-06-2010
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
International Journal of Behavioral Medicine / Issue 2/2010
Print ISSN: 1070-5503
Electronic ISSN: 1532-7558
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-009-9050-8

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