Job Strain and Adverse Health Behaviors: the Finnish Public Sector Study

Objective: The objective of this study was to explore the association between job strain and the co-occurrence of adverse health behaviors; smoking, heavy drinking, obesity, and physical inactivity.

Methods: The authors studied cross-sectional data of 34,058 female and 8154 male public sector employees.

Results: Multinomial logistic regression models adjusted for sex, age, basic education, marital status, and type of job contract showed that high job strain and passive jobs were associated with 1.3 to 1.4 times higher odds of having > or =3 (vs 0) adverse health behaviors. Among men, low job control was associated with a 1.3-fold likelihood and among women active jobs were associated with a 1.2-fold likelihood of having > or =3 (vs 0) adverse behaviors. High demands were associated with a higher likelihood of co-occurrence of one to two (vs 0) adverse behaviors among women.

Conclusions: Job strain conditions may be associated with the co-occurrence of adverse health behaviors that contribute to preventable chronic diseases.

Clinical Significance: Adverse job conditions may increase the likelihood of co-occurring health risk behaviors. Reducing work stress by increasing job control and decreasing psychologic demands might help efforts to promote healthy lifestyles.