TY - JOUR
T1 - Psychological Responses to Home-Working Practices: A Network Analysis of Relationships with Health Behaviour and Wellbeing
AU - Keightley, Samuel
AU - Pollmann, Ayla
AU - Gardner Sood, Benjamin
AU - Duncan, Myanna
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 by the authors.
PY - 2024/11/5
Y1 - 2024/11/5
N2 - Working at home, rather than in the workplace, has been suggested to affect office-based workers’ health and wellbeing. This exploratory, cross-sectional study sought to identify discrete psychological responses to home-working practices and investigate their relationship with engagement in health-related behaviours and wellbeing. A sample of 491 home-workers completed a survey assessing ten psychological responses to home-working (e.g., the ability to ‘switch off’ from work), ten health behaviour indices (e.g., sleep trouble), and seven wellbeing indices. Network Analysis modelled relationships between these variables. Results showed four clusters of psychological responses to home-working practices (representing ‘home-working independence’, ‘home-work transition’, ‘daily work pressure’, and ‘work-day forecasting’). Variables within these clusters linked to health behaviour and wellbeing: perceptions of workload manageability, ability to switch off from work, homeworking autonomy, and planning and organising a home-working day had cascading influences on indicators of health, health behaviours, and wellbeing. The findings point to a complex system of potential health and wellbeing consequences of working from home. Further evidence is needed to establish truly causal relationships; nonetheless, our findings call for the development of public health initiatives and organisational policies to support the adoption of home-working practices to benefit the health and wellbeing of home-workers.
AB - Working at home, rather than in the workplace, has been suggested to affect office-based workers’ health and wellbeing. This exploratory, cross-sectional study sought to identify discrete psychological responses to home-working practices and investigate their relationship with engagement in health-related behaviours and wellbeing. A sample of 491 home-workers completed a survey assessing ten psychological responses to home-working (e.g., the ability to ‘switch off’ from work), ten health behaviour indices (e.g., sleep trouble), and seven wellbeing indices. Network Analysis modelled relationships between these variables. Results showed four clusters of psychological responses to home-working practices (representing ‘home-working independence’, ‘home-work transition’, ‘daily work pressure’, and ‘work-day forecasting’). Variables within these clusters linked to health behaviour and wellbeing: perceptions of workload manageability, ability to switch off from work, homeworking autonomy, and planning and organising a home-working day had cascading influences on indicators of health, health behaviours, and wellbeing. The findings point to a complex system of potential health and wellbeing consequences of working from home. Further evidence is needed to establish truly causal relationships; nonetheless, our findings call for the development of public health initiatives and organisational policies to support the adoption of home-working practices to benefit the health and wellbeing of home-workers.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85210164586&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/bs14111039
DO - 10.3390/bs14111039
M3 - Article
VL - 14
JO - Behavioral Sciences
JF - Behavioral Sciences
IS - 11
M1 - 1039
ER -