In their prospective cohort study, the researchers evaluated baseline working hours, psychological morbidity (an indicator of baseline depression), and depression risk factors in a group of British civil servants (1,626 men, 497 women, mean age 47 years) participating in the Whitehall II study from 1991 to 1993. After a follow-up of major depressive episode in 1997 to 1999, the researchers found that the odds ratio for a subsequent major depressive episode was 2.43 times higher for those working 11+ hours a day compared to employees working 7 to 8 hours a day, even when adjusted for sociodemographic factors at baseline. Further adjustment for chronic physical disease, smoking, alcohol use, job strain, and work-related social support had little effect on this association. “Data from middle-aged civil servants suggest that working long hours of overtime may predispose to major depressive episodes,” concluded the researchers.
Recent work has also confirmed a genomic site for major depression. Read more about it in Psychiatric News by clicking here.
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