Does Work-Family Conflict Predict Allostatic Load? A 4-Year Longitudinal Study

Details

• Journal Article:
  Postgraduate Medical Journal
• Personal Author:
  Saiki, Mayumi ; Loerbroks, Adrian ; Li, Jian
• Description:
  Objective: A growing number of studies have reported that occupational psychosocial factors increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. Allostatic load (AL) is a main biological mechanism that explains the pathway from stress to disease. This study examined whether work-to-family conflict (WFC) and family-to-work conflict (FWC) at baseline would be associated with changes in the AL index (ALI) across four years. Methods: We used the Midlife in Japan survey, Wave I, and the biomarker projects, Waves I and II. This study included 152 participants with paid jobs and variables of interest at baseline and target biomarkers at baseline and follow-up. We examined the four-year longitudinal changes in the ALI using two methods: comparing ALI scores at baseline and follow-up, named "Two ALI approach," and creating one ALI score considering changes at baseline and follow-up, named "One ALI approach." Negative binomial regression analysis and generalized estimating equations were used for analyses. The results were reported by count ratios (CRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results: In the final model, our results demonstrated that WFC at baseline was significantly associated with increased ALI using the "Two ALI approach" (CR 1.15, 95% CIs: 1.03, 1.28) and "One ALI approach" (CR 1.15, 95% CIs: 1.01, 1.32), whereas FWC did not show statistical significance in both methods. Conclusions: WFC was longitudinally associated with increased ALI. It is crucial to mitigate the effects of work-to-family conflict.
• Subjects:
  Cardiovascular System Occupational Health Safety Stress, Psychological
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Work-family Conflict; Allostatic Load Index; Biological Stress Responses; Longitudinal Study Longitudinal Study; Work-family Conflict; Cardiovascular Disease; Stress; Biological Effects;
• Source:
  Postgrad Med J 2025 Dec; 101(1202):1303-1310
• ISSN:
  0032-5473
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; San Francisco Region [OSHA]
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  8 pdf pages
• Volume:
  101
• Issue:
  1202
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20071245
• Contact Point Address:
  Jian Li, Departments of Environmental Health Sciences and Epidemiology, Fielding School of Public Health, School of Nursing, University of California Los Angeles, 650 Charles E Young Dr. S, Los Angeles 90095, CA, United States
• Email:
  jianli2019@ucla.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2026
• Performing Organization:
  University of California Los Angeles
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• End Date:
  20270630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:2807e49e9812a07f468465b1434ecbd627016eddd177198d5bb0f0e11f1de911c3dfb8a8a7ddd11c0843f5f60981fc48eb34630d381739964ff42e6c11e87d0d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/258723/cdc_258723_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 608.49 KB ]