Irregular Work Hours In Youth Can Have Long-Term Health Consequences: New Study Warns
Are you someone who spends most of your waking hours working tirelessly, thinking that it's better to work hard now in your youth to enjoy the benefits later in life? Well, you should be careful because recent research has revealed that irregular work hours can negatively affect your health for decades to come.
3/4th of work patterns do not have stable hours
The study, published in the journal Plos One, suggests that having irregular and unpredictable work schedules during your youth could negatively impact your health later in life.
Researchers analysed data from over 7,300 young adults aged 14 to 22, tracking them over time.?
Work schedules were categorised as standard (starting at 6 am or later and ending by 6 pm), evening (starting at 2 pm or later and ending by midnight), night (starting at 9 pm or later and ending by 8 am), and variable (including split shifts, rotating shifts, or irregular hours).?
The study found that about three-quarters of the work patterns did not involve working stable daytime hours consistently throughout their working years.
Poor health & depressive symptoms linked to erratic work hours
"People with work patterns involving any degree of volatility and variability were more likely to have fewer hours of sleep per day, lower sleep quality, lower physical and mental functions, and a higher likelihood of reporting poor health and depressive symptoms at age 50 than those with stable standard work schedules," Han added.
Dr. Wen-Jui Han, a professor at the Silver School of Social Work at New York University, is the sole author of the study.
The study found that individuals who transitioned from having stable work schedules (starting around 6 am and ending by 6 pm) to irregular or unpredictable schedules between the ages of 22 and 49 reported the poorest health outcomes by age 50.?
Surprisingly, the study indicates that even periods of unemployment were less harmful to long-term health than consistently irregular work schedules.??
Dr. Han suggests ways to manage the potential negative effects of irregular work, Bincluding maintaining a healthy diet, regular exercise, prioritizing relaxation techniques, and nurturing relationships with loved ones.
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